Wish Out Of Anger: Granted
by kokokringles
Summary: The Ninja have been excessively snappish after Lord Garmadon took off with their Golden Weapons and they unintentionally take it all out on Lloyd. After two weeks, he is finally fed up and makes a wish he immediately regrets when it actually comes true. "The Ninja have been irritable - just really snappy lately. Even Zane has a shorter fuse than normal." **Rewrite**
1. Prologue

The Ninja have been especially irritating these past few weeks. Well officially it's been two weeks and three days (and counting) but I'm counting it as a few months. We've been stuck in the same room for over two weeks. Not only that but this place doesn't really have a shower. I mean, it kind of does but not one that I'm allowed to use. It's a strict rule courtesy of my - or should I say 'our' sensei and local Master of Ice Zane. Not like they would need to tell me twice. Jay - one of my teachers/teammate/roommate/fellow ninja/etc. says he saw a rat colony underneath the drain. Kai tells me not to believe him but it's not that hard to believe considering that the drain in our 'sink' is constantly clogged. Probably with rats. Baby rats with diseases.

Ew.

I digress. As I was saying, the Ninja have been irritable - just really snappy lately. Even Zane has a shorter fuse than normal which is really odd because of his cool nature. By 'really snappy', I mean really snappy. I've talked to Sensei about it but he said it was because they were still teenagers and I had to remember that. Oh, and they were still angry about my dad stealing the Golden Weapons when he blew up the Great Devourer. My dad - Lord Garmadon - aka the Dark Lord who is apparently destined to be taken down by the Green Ninja. Which happens to be me. The quote unquote, 'elemental Ninja' are training me to destroy him. I try not to think about it too much. That's been fairly easy thus far because of the Ninja always snapping at me and arguing with each other. Nya can't take it, either. But like me, she's stuck living with them and their constant fighting.

When we were living on our (recently demolished) ship, I could just go in another room then close the door so I couldn't hear them then wait for the whole thing to blow over. But it rarely got that bad because none of them were _ever_ this impatient.

Kai's the absolute worst. Nya can't stay in the same room with him for five consecutive minutes without them tearing out each other's throats. Figuratively speaking, of course. That would look disgusting.

Recently, the Ninja were too busy to bother with me because of them trying to keep an extremely expensive apartment and I was really bored 99% of the time. At least the place had decent video games. Nonetheless, as much as I wished that we'd move to the cheaper place, I am seriously regretting that wish now. They're driving me up the wall insane. I'm really surprised that I haven't gone to the mental hospital yet. I've been complaining about them for about an entire page now but let me show you one of the dozens of examples of how they're all so... annoying. This actually just happened a few hours ago.

_§~§~§_

_"__No, no, no - like this," Cole adjusted my posture. I could tell he was getting irritated with me but was trying to stay patient. Probably because Sensei was sitting in the corner drinking his tea. I was trying but I was absolutely exhausted. I had hoped Zane would noticed but that was for naught. He didn't notice. It was hard to notice something when one was absent. Yes. He went to get some food for dinner at the worst possible moment. _

_It was two and I had been woken up at six in the morning and the last time I ate was said time. Zane told me that if I was getting tired, say something and we would take a break. Foolish me. When I first started getting tired, I didn't say anything because I wanted to get it down. I failed and was still doing so. I couldn't stop now. Cole was already irritated enough and definitely didn't want to stop now. It was also a matter of pride by now. Jay had set up a bet that I could do this for twelve hours in a row. He was kidding but I wasn't. I'm really stupid sometimes. Please put emphasis on 'sometimes' should you be reading __aloud._

_"__Lloyd!" Cole snapped me out of my thoughts and back into harsh, harsh reality. One where my entire body ached like crazy and I felt like falling over then sleeping for three days straight. "Are you listening to me?"_

_'__No', I wanted to say but that would result in an unneeded three-minute, thirty-eight second lecture. "Yeah," I lied. "I was listening." The ends justify the means, right? Actually Zane went on a ten-minute rant on how that saying is most definitely __not__ true. Everyone was half-asleep by the time he finished so he repeated the entire lecture. Word for word._

_Twenty minutes of torture. Twenty minutes of my life. Twenty minutes of boredom. Twenty minutes gone down the drain. Am I being dramatic? Hah...! No. You try listening to the exact same boring lecture for twenty minutes. It was worse than a lecture at Darkley's about why and how the seasons change. I was never planning on being a scientist. Ever. Except I have/had squeezing out of homework down to a science. Haven't used that 'science' in a while, though._

_"__Lloyd! Pay attention!" Cole snapped. He was losing it...! Goodbye, world! Here is what I want on my tombstone_: _Lloyd M. Garmadon: murdered by the wrath of Cole— "You aren't paying attention! Focus!"_

_He's totally losing it._

_"__What were you thinking about anyway?" He asked expectantly, obviously expecting an answer. Like he was gonna get one. _

_I stayed silent._

_By this time, I was fed up with them always snapping at me. So I decided officially of that moment, to ever so slightly rebel. Not like doing something crazy like dye my hair red or something. Just not listening to them on unimportant orders. Smart-mouthing them (when Sensei isn't around) every once in a while. I was going to be as bad as they are... I learned grumpiness from the best, I suppose._

_"__Lloyd. Answer. Now."_

_It wasn't like he would like the answer. I continued my vow of silence. _

_"__Don't ignore me_—"

_"__It's not like I would be allowed to say what I'm thinking about. It definitely is not flattering to you, if that's what you're thinking." I snapped back without thinking. _

_He looked at me for a second, surprised at my outburst. After a second, his expression changed to annoyance directed straight at_ _m— I mean, in my general direction._

_Shoot._

_This is bad. I'm so dead. _

_§~§~§_

Long story short, I was grounded. For a month. A month. Cole had the audacity to insult me back and I returned the gesture. What I said (and what word I used) next was what got me a month. It would have only been three days but after the insult, it got me a month. I really kind of deserved it but he was practically asking for it. There was a **_massive_** opening there just asking to be said. Give to those who ask...? I attempted that train of thought but it didn't really work. On the bright side Sensei forced Cole to apologize to me. But I had to apologize to him too. I got the not-so-great part of the punishment.

Right now I'm really wishing that Sensei picked some less dramatic people to be the Ninja. It would probably be better like that. I was always told to be careful what I wish for and was even forced to watch It's a Wonderful Life to illustrate the point. But right now I'm really thinking of saying it to their face. Hopefully nothing else happens to set one of us off. Maybe I should just stay away from everyone today. I don't want to deal with damage control. That's not really my job anyway. Well everyone in the Ninja team helps with damage control but that doesn't mean I have to. I'm too young!

I am going to use that excuse as long as possible.

_§~§~§_

**If you've been reading _Ninjago_ fan fiction before the end of January, then you might be able to tell that this is a rewrite of an old story of mine titled, '_Be Careful What You Wish For_'. I was actually planning to publish this a really, really long time ago but I never got around to it... Sorry?**

**You might recall I had several OCs as the Ninja in the original. Well bump that. The fan fiction archives are overflowing with OCs as main characters and I don't want to add to that, no offense meant.**

**If you really, REALLY want me to, I can put them back in but I kinda want to minimize the amount of OCs I have in my fan fictions so instead of the lines along the lines of, "Sensei picks different people than Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane to be the Ninja", I'm planning to change the premise to, "Nya never gets kidnapped at all".**


	2. Phasma

Being able to smuggle oneself along on a mission you're not supposed to be on is rather dumb. I learned that the hard way but I guess I was kind of proud of myself when I did it. Why? Because the people I smuggled myself along with were ninjas. The Ninja. There is a difference between the two, you know. Of course the reason I needed to 'smuggle myself along' was obviously because I wasn't allowed. Well I was bored out of my mind. How could they blame me? Sure I was also grounded at the time (it had been two days and I was already going insane) but even if I wasn't, I still wouldn't be allowed to go.

As I was saying, they were either really distracted with what they were doing (whatever _that_ was) or they were simply just completely unobservant. It made me sad for them. Not really. I just wanted to sound like a nicer person. Well I wasn't caught for a while. In fact, I doubt I would have been caught at all should Jay hadn't tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and into the person they were stalking then they caught me. Everyone was pretty angry at me because all five of us were caged like animals. I'm pretty sure it was a cage for animals - a lion, to be specific. There was a bullwhip in the left corner of the room outside of the cage. That or a snake with strange sleeping habits. It kind of looked like we were trapped in an abandoned circus thingy. Why did Kai suggest that everyone track these guys? I didn't know they actually dealt with things other than serpentine and my father. Huh. I should ask them some time.

Kai was the restless one - pacing back and forth. I was mentally counting how many paces it took for him to turn. For some reason, it was a lot more entertaining than it sounded. _Pace, pace, pace, pace, turn, pace, pace, pace, pace, turn_, I thought as I watched him go back and forth. That was the concept of pacing. Walking around without accomplishing anything. I had no idea what we were going to do at the time because we had been in there for almost three hours and nothing had happened. I could tell it was taking Jay all of his self-control (or rather, lack thereof) from start screaming hysterically. I was really thankful for that. Nevertheless, he was getting antsy. Probably wondering what would become of us. Maybe we'd end up priceless archaeological finds and be sold for twenty million dollars. Or just be bones to scare characters in a gangster/horror/adventure movie or book.

Zane was meditating. I always wondered why and how he was able to sit there like that looking so calm. _I wonder if a dream comes to him or something..._ I shook my head at the thought. According to Zane, nindroids don't dream. He said 'don't', though. Not 'can't'. Living at Darkley's really taught me that and made us work around the 'don't' and 'shouldn't' premise. For example, Nya told me that I shouldn't put a smoker in the ventilation system. Of course immediately after she told me, I did it. It seems like whenever someone tells you not to do something, you want to do it.

Maybe it's a psychology thing.

Cole was angry at me. Well, all four of them were angry at me but he was the only one directly saying it to me. The others heavily implied it by just ignoring me completely and acting as if I didn't exist. At the moment, I wasn't sure what was worse. Cole chewing me out or being ignored. Probably being ignored since I could simply tune Cole out really easily. In fact, that's what I was doing.

Before he could tell me to focus, Zane had noticed a weak point in the cage. Well no surprise. The thing must have been older than all of us combined.

"Good job, Zane." Kai told Zane curtly as he tried to pull the loose bar out of its place.

Let me tell you - just because it was old didn't mean it was easy to bend. It was still metal, after all. Cole ended up doing most of the work while Zane calculated on where exactly the weakest point would be. I'm pretty sure most of it was Kai's body temperature getting to high and practically melting it. I may be exaggerating but that's what it felt like and I'm sticking to it.

"Let's get out of here," Zane hissed, looking warily around in case something was coming our way. It wouldn't shock me. Everything happens inconveniently. "The exit's over here," he added helpfully then glanced back in my direction. "Lloyd, come on."

I had been standing idly in the cage for some odd reason, not wanting to move. I nodded silently in response and slowly walked out. The Ninja were now distracted on which exit to take and I could hear them from another room. They were pretty close and since the argument would take five minutes minimum, I decided to look around a bit rather than catching up. If I got lost, they'd come looking for me since they obviously couldn't leave me behind. I'd get in more trouble than I already was but if I was going to rebel, I needed to risk it.

Glancing to where the voices were coming from to make sure that no one noticed I wasn't there, I went into a room opposite of where the others were. It was darker than the 'cage room', as I had dubbed it. It was rather creepy and I could have sworn there was a colony of bats living in there. First rats, now bats. Fate sure likes putting disgusting things in my path (and make things rhyme, apparently). What's next? Spiders? _Vampire_ bats? Snakes? Wait, I already encountered those. I was even kidnapped by them.

After a few minutes, I decided I had enough of the place. Mostly because some of those bats had started coming out and tried to eat me. I think. Well what really probably happened was that I wasn't paying attention then ran face-first into one of them. Still, it freaked me out so I tried to run to the exit. Unfortunately I somehow missed the door and smashed into the wall. Fortunately no one was there to witness my little mess-up.

I rubbed my forehead where I could tell a lump was going to form. When I looked up, a distant light was coming from an entrance that wasn't there before. Tilting my head to the side, I warily walked into the room.

It looked like it was there for _ages_ and no one had been in there for even longer. I looked around but the only thing that was in the pretty much deserted room. I was about to leave but I tripped over a loose stone. Geez. I was acting like such a klutz.

"You have freed me from my prison." A voice said, making me jump and turn around. "I am in your debt."

Slowly turning around, I saw somewhat of an ethereal being. She looked a little freaky with light, eyes and hair, skin extremely pale. Her look was complete with transparent wings. The only reason I could see them was because of the slight glimmer of the light. Her dress looked like she was still living at the beginning of Ninjago from the way she dressed. It also seemed like she prepared her speech for a really, really long time. "How long have you had to plan that speech?" I asked. It wasn't the best thing to say because she - or Phasma - glowered at me. I probably offended her. Nya warned me about speaking my mind. Well around strangers, at least. She didn't need to worry about it when I was around the Ninja.

After Phasma's glare faded, she folded her hands. "And in return, I'll grant you a single wish."

_What are you? A genie?_ I thought. She was acting like one of those boring genie things in the movies to appreciate the life you already have. After a second's pause, I responded, "You're kidding, right?"

She had no sense of humor. AT. ALL. "How narrow-minded are you, child?" Phasma snapped. "You just released me from a wall."

I looked at her suspiciously. "Yeah?" I asked. "Well last time I released something from a prison-type place ended really badly... How do I know that you won't curse me or something?" I challenged. The gesture probably wasn't a ver intelligent move but how bad could this wish thing be?

She looked at me darkly. "Do you want to challenge me?" She asked. "I'm offering to give you anything you want."

I stayed silent. I decided to try to pull the 'stranger danger' card. Sighing, Phasma handed me a tiny bell. "Well you think about what you want," she paused. "When you decide, you can summon me with this and I'll grant your wish then."

I looked at the bell. It really was tiny. What if I lost it? And someone else took my wish? Would she come at all? How can I trust her? Wait, yeah. I'm totally trusting her. She doesn't seem like she can do any harm. And why was I having so much trouble with this wish? There were plenty of things that I wanted but now that I could actually get what I wanted... Hmm... "Think about your wish," Phasma warned, waggling her finger. "You don't want to create a paradox or something."

"...Thanks." I responded flatly.

"Remember," she started fading away, flapping her wings lightly. "Be careful what you wish for."

_§~§~§_

Once I was back at our trashy apartment, I was yelled at by literally everyone for sneaking off, wandering off, going missing, not listening to people of authority, etc.. Nothing I haven't heard before. What I was really thinking about was Phasma's wish offer. Did she really mean anything? If so, could I wish that my father was never bit by the Great Devourer? Definitely.

"Lloyd, you're not listening to a word we're saying," Zane chided. "What were you doing when we were looking for you?"

I paused before answering, wondering if I should tell him the truth or not. "Uh..."

"Lloyd, did you destroy something?" Jay asked angrily.

"No!" I stamped my foot on the ground, frustrated. Why couldn't they just leave it at that? I was fine and nothing happened. The fact that I was unscathed meant that nothing happened. Maybe they were worried I met someone. Well I didn't technically meet some_one_. More like some_thing_. I think. She seemed to have an intelligence at human level at minimum.

"Then what were you doing?" Zane pressed. He wasn't showing it, but I could easily tell that he was getting annoyed. Thankfully, Kai stepped into the conversation.

"Can we just leave him alone? He obviously doesn't want to talk about it and since nothing _too_ bad happened, we don't need to know." He sighed. He was getting tired of the conversation and wanted to get on with the bit of day we had left. "Can't we just increase his punishment then get on with our lives?"

I blinked. "Wait, huh?" I sputtered. "Increase my punishment? What for?"

Cole looked at me incredulously. "You don't know what you did wrong? You _snuck_ along with us when you were specifically told to stay here!"

"To stay here and read about the Great Depression with Nya?" I almost scoffed. "No way - that's...depressing."

Nya looked at me with a look of shock on her face. "What do you mean? The United States history is one of the most interesting! I mean, look at the Civil War, the bombing of Pearl Harbor—"

"What about Ninjago history, Nya?" Kai interrupted, giving her an odd look.

She crossed her arms indignantly. "Well considering our occupations I think Lloyd already has Ninjago history down. We're _making_ Ninjago history!"

Kai gave her an odd look. "...You didn't have to get so defensive."

Jay blinked at the siblings' exchange. "Anyways," he cleared his throat. "Lloyd, spill the beans or we'll even increase your punishment more than we already are."

"_WHAT_?!" I exclaimed. "Y-You can't do that!"

"And why not?"

"Because nothing happened!" I responded. "Really - I just went in there a-and...and I got lost. That's all."

Zane looked at me pointedly. "You aren't a very good liar, Lloyd." He pointed out.

_Thanks._ I thought drily. "So where were you really?" Cole asked impatiently.

"The faster you tell us, the faster we can get this over with..." Kai muttered as he leaned against the wall. He was tapping his foot impatiently while looking at the ceiling, exasperated. "If it isn't such a big deal, then you can tell us."

"You won't believe me if I told you."

"Try us," Nya responded. "We fight talking snakes on a daily basis and Kai is actually able to work well with other people. Our life is pretty impossible if you ask me."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Kai demanded but everyone ignored him and directed their gaze at me.

I rolled my eyes. "_Fine_. If you really want to know, I met with a weird ethereal being who was stuck inside a wall for a hundred years then said she would grant me any wish I wanted."

"Lloyd," Cole straightened his posture. "You're grounded for two more months."

"_WHAT_?! _**WHY**_?!" I shouted. I was really loud and it made Jay wince slightly. He had really good, sensitive hearing, F.Y.I..

"Don't lie to us," Zane snapped. "And now you're not only being sarcastic with us but you've lost respect for all of us as of late and—"

"That's because you've been snapping at _me_!" I retorted. Mayday! Mayday! This argument's going down! This isn't ending well...! "My training sessions are _torture_! You're always saying that I'm doing something wrong but never say what it is and then—"

"Enough!" Sensei (finally) stepped into the room. He had left the apartment for a while so he could...do something. He never told us what he was doing. "Lloyd, go outside for a minute."

"Am I off the hook?" I asked hopefully.

"No." Sensei replied sharply. "The Ninja will determine your punishments given they are responsible for you and I won't revoke them. But I _do_ need to have some words with them. It is none of your business so please leave the room."

I opened my mouth to protest but Nya shook her head at me then walked me outside. "Nya!" I whined. "This isn't fair—! I can't be grounded for _another_ month!"

"I think they meant they'd add two more months." She corrected.

"Thanks for the clarification." I replied sarcastically then tried to listen to what Sensei was telling the Ninja.

"...patient with Lloyd. Remember where he's coming from."

"But Sensei!" Jay. "He _followed_ us! Right after we told him not to! He could have gotten in worse trouble than we were already in! Not only that but the kid wandered off and we couldn't find him for an hour - we thought something happened to him and had all of us freaking out!"

"You mean just you," I heard Kai correct him. "You were practically hysterical."

"Nonetheless," Sensei changed the subject back to the current issue. "You needn't punish him so harshly. He was right about you being harsh on him lately. You need to apologize."

"Apologize?" Cole repeated.

"To _Lloyd_?" Jay added.

"Yes. And perhaps soften your punishment?" Sensei suggested.

"_No_." Zane said firmly

I could hear Sensei approaching the door and I quickly moved away so I wouldn't fall forward and embarrass myself... Again. "As you wish. But just think about what you're doing."

"The little brat deserves it. He hasn't changed at all since we found him destroying people's lives in Jamonokai." Kai said snidely.

He added something under his breath that I couldn't hear but it sure offended Sensei because I could hear him turning back around. "Kai!"

I decided it was better to stop listening there. That was enough. But really? Did they really think _that_ about me? _Fine_. If that was the way they thought. Angrily, I pulled out the bell Phasma gave me and started ringing it violently. Seconds later, the world froze and everything looked black and white when the...ghost...thing appeared in front of me. "You've made your wish?" She asked.

"Yes." I spat out the words as if they were poison. "I wish that Sensei never needed to make the Ninja team in the first place!"

She looked at me, clenching her teeth slightly. "Are you sure that is what you want?"

"Yes." I nodded without a second thought. If that was what they thought, then this would be better for all of us. And I wouldn't have to deal with the dramatics of the others.

Phasma looked at me gravely. "If that is what you truly wish for." She made a circular motion with her hand and some weird sparks started spinning around me. It really made me dizzy and I hoped it would be over soon. It was making me sick to my stomach and that was saying something since I lived on a ship and didn't get sick once. I'm really getting distracted. I think she's messing with my head. After a few more seconds, everything went blank.

_§~§~§_

**[proofreads the chapter] THIS IS AWFUL! THROW THE BOOK AT ME 'CAUSE I SUCK AT THIS KIND OF CONFLICT.**

**Drama over. And no, I am not going to be updating every single day. I just thought I needed to add in the nearly 3k chapter for plot reasons. Since I like Phasma, she'll probably be a recurring character. She'll probably show up every 5-10 chapters or so. Ever since I put her in here, I've been wanting to call her either Minerva or Juno. [facepalm]**

**I'll probably be updating every Friday at 8:00 p.m. EST. But no promises.**

**17blanceri: **YAAAY! But like I said before, I had this written for a really long time but never got around to publishing it. I'm totally not a fan of procrastination. (Meaning I do it more than I should...)

**Sketchrex: **Ah... The good old days...where I was young(er) and had no idea what I was doing. Now I'm a pro...who has no idea what I'm doing. I might remember you.

**Dixicorn: **WHOOOOP! [restores FFN Faith Bar] Now your Faith Bar is restored! *WOoA:G used Chapter 1 and destroyed all of your health!* (_Pokémon_...ANYONE?)

**ForeverDreamer12****: **Thanks!...Do I know you? Your user is familiar...

**DISCLAIMER: **I know near to nothing about _Pokémon_ should I have offended any _Pokémon_ fans.

**See you (hopefully) Friday! **(After this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad chapter... BUT IT NEEDED TO BE IN HERE.)

**Oh, do you have a specific format you like your fan fictions in? If so, what? In case you don't understand what I mean, I like the font to be in Roboto, I don't like the text tightened, have it enlarged and whatnot.**

**By the way, if you're a beta reader and think you can help a fellow writer out, can you shoot me a message? 'Cause I really want some help with this story...**


	3. Four Weapons

I woke the next morning to the sound of a banging gong. I assumed everything that had happened yesterday was just an elaborate dream. That is, until I expected either Jay or Kai start groaning and/or complaining. After a few more seconds, the groaning never came. By this point, I just assumed they were just ignoring him.

But when I was about to open one eye to peek at the lucky person who got the actual bed in the entire apartment, there wasn't anything. Just a very unfamiliar wall. It looked like it was made out of wood and when I started thinking about it, I realized how much more comfortable my bed was. I couldn't exactly remember where I chose to sleep last night, whether it was the floor or even the table/bed which is wiped down thoroughly each morning, but I knew for a fact that none of the places to sleep there were ever this comfortable. Did we move and I didn't know it? If so, then that was probably the best thing that happened to me in a while.

Did something traumatic happen to me and the memory was completely erased as a defense mechanism? I heard Zane talking about that once when Nya was teaching me about psychology. It was pretty interesting. I always liked psychology and if I ever got the chance to go to college, I'd probably—

"Lloyd!" I heard Sensei snap then he started banging his gong over my head.

Exclaiming indignantly, I almost grabbed away his little gong hammer thing (I couldn't remember what it was called, at the time…) on reflex. Instead, I rolled out of bed and landed on my hands and knees on the floor. "Sensei…!" I looked up at him who chuckled lightly.

"You shouldn't have spent so long to wake up," he answered simply. "Get dressed. I have some errands I need you to run in place of doing your training for today."

I grumbled under my breath then stood up to take a look around. Where was I? Sensei didn't think it was weird which confused me even more. Where were the others? "Lloyd!" Sensei's voice called once again. "Hurry up!"

"I can't get dressed that fast!" I responded. He knew that, right? Maybe I was still _in_ a dream. Probably. I guess I'm one of the few people who dream in color. Or…did that wish actually come true? I shook my head at the thought. No way. That couldn't have happened. As weird as my life was already, a ghost-like being named Phasma couldn't change reality as we all know it.

"Yes, you can! You've been able to use Spinjitzu since you five years old! Now hurry!" Sensei snapped, interrupting my thoughts.

I rolled my eyes, annoyed until I processed what he had said and my expression changed into confusion. _Five_? _FIVE_?! That wasn't anything near to the truth! I was still learning how to ride with training wheels on my bike at five. I didn't know what a run-on sentence was at five. I didn't even know what a period was!

Wait…

The punctuation period. Not the other kind. You know what? Forget I wrote those last few sentences.

As I quickly put on my clothes and brushed my teeth, I tried to figure out where to go. As I looked around, it turned out I was in some sort of monastery. I think. It looked like the monastery in some old pictures I found on Jay's phone while I was going through his text messages a while back. "Lloyd!"

I quickly ran to where Sensei's voice was coming from which proved to be rather difficult considering the place was a lot bigger than it looked and the sound liked bouncing off of the walls. It was pretty empty in here but it seemed homey nonetheless. I walked into a woman holding at least five heavy scrolls. She had a braid that ran down her back and had an archeological look about her. She looked really urgent to be somewhere. What was she doing here, anyway? "Oh, good morning, Lloyd," she greeted warmly, smiling at me before walking away at a brisk pace. "I'm sorry, but I need to go or I'll be late. You know how impatient Mr. White is."

No. No, I didn't know how impatient Mr. White was. Who was that guy anyway? Who the heck was this woman?...Now that I'm thinking about it. Why was I not wondering that? How did she know my name? This all had to be one elaborate joke. Maybe she would tell me it was a joke and where Sensei was so they could stop playing. "Who are you?" I asked, trying to catch up with her. It wasn't the best question to be asking at the moment but I was sincerely curious.

She looked at me oddly, slowing her pace down so I could catch up. "Oh, don't be silly."

"No—"

"You had better go, your uncle has some errands he wants you to do for him."

"But where is he?"

She shifted her weight to her left leg so it was more comfortable to hold her scrolls. Did she not know that no one ever used those anymore? Except Sensei? "He's in his room, where he usually is. You know that, don't you?"

"No - I've never been here in my life!"

She sighed, seeming to have ignored my previous statement. "Well I'll see you around six tonight. Love you," she kissed my forehead and continued in her brisk pace to where I assumed the exit was located.

I looked at her strangely. I didn't even know her and she acted like she knew me really well. And then she had no idea what _I_ was talking about? Nonetheless, I made my way to where Sensei's room was, trying one room at a time until I finally, I found him. The room was inconveniently the very last room that I checked, obviously. Why would I think it was in a conveniently placed spot? That would be ridiculous. "Sensei?" I asked, approaching him from behind.

"Ah," he turned around slowly, bamboo staff in hand as usual. "It's about time. Here is the list I need you to do." He handed me a piece of paper.

I quickly folded it up and asked, "Sensei, what's going on? Who was that woman I saw earlier? Where are we? Where's—"

"What are you talking about?" He interrupted me mid-sentence. "We are in the monastery. Where you've lived since your father left you here. That woman is Misako, your mother—"

"WHAT?! My _mother_?"

"I had thought you'd gotten over that shock when you first met her." He told me flatly.

"I am just meeting her! I have never met her before! And I thought this place was supposed to be burned into ashes! Isn't that what you told me?"

There was an awkward silence.

"Are you feeling well?" He asked me. "If you are feeling ill we can take this day off and I can get Zane to run the errands."

Zane? So the others _were_ here? Where were they? "Zane?" I repeated.

"Yes. He was having the day off today to spend it with his father but I don't think he'll mind. He volunteered to do any extra work if needed. He told us this yesterday, remember?"

_No._ "I don't remember that…"

"Maybe you should lie down."

"I'm fine! I just don't know where I am or what's going on…!" I snapped then shook my head and sighed subtly. Well he was adamant on keeping up this charade so I stopped trying to convince him then sighed, defeated. "Never mind. I'll get going now." I muttered. I didn't even try to hide the annoyance in my tone. Sensei either didn't notice or ignored it. Whatever it was, he closed the door behind me with a curt goodbye.

After a while of stumbling around, I finally found the exit. Of course there were hundreds of steps there. Why would someone even build something here? Just why? Well since everyone that lived her previously could use Spinjitzu while going up and down the steps but I couldn't.

I started walking down the steps and it took me about half an hour to get down all of the steps and to put it delicately, I was completely exhausted. Of course I was hungry since I skipped out on breakfast. I really wish I didn't decide to do that now. I spent a few minutes trying to get enough energy back. Hopefully I had some currency on me. I fished through my pocket. My hopes shot up when I felt some kind of metal. It felt like nickel. Instead, it was the bell Phasma had given me the previous day. Well that proved that she was real. Or it could have just been there. Doubting that anything would happen, I rang the bell lightly and like before, the world went black and white and she started forming in front of me. She definitely was real. That or I was hallucinating.

"Yes?" She asked irritably, putting her hands on her hips. "You rang?"

"You actually showed up?" I managed to say lamely. I didn't want to keep her waiting for my response so I said the first thing that came to mind. She didn't seem too impressed by how intelligent the question sounded but answered anyways.

"I promised that I would and I intend on keeping my promises," she replied curtly. "But don't make a habit of it." She added sharply. "Anyways, is there something you needed to ask me?"

"No…"

"Good. In that case, I—"

"No!" I shouted before she started fading away. "Wait!" I seemed to be using the word 'no' quite frequently today.

"Yes?" She looked at me pointedly.

I chewed my lip. "My wish really came true?"

She nodded in confirmation. "Yes. It did. You wished for something and it came true. In fact, this alternate universe might be better than your original one."

"How?" I demanded. I wasn't seeing the 'good' in it. Of course I haven't really seen what my wish actually did but still.

Phasma shook her head. "I'm not going spell out this new world for you. You should figure it out yourself. But a few things you should keep in mind is that your father is not scared to kill you if needed, thanks to your wish. You shouldn't be afraid to do the same to him…should it ever come to that. Good luck."

I didn't get to say anything before she started fading away and the color came back. When I put the bell back in my pocket, I found she had given me some coins and had written something on the back of Sensei's list.

_Lloyd, this world is completely different from the one you live in. Basically, this is an alternate universe. I can't explain everything but I will what I can. Don't be surprised if some people are dead when they are supposed to be alive and vice-versa. You have most likely picked up the personality traits you are supposed to have in this world, so don't be surprised if you do something you wouldn't have originally done before. I will let you keep the bell but only ring it in dire situations only. It is for __emergencies__ only. Please remember that. Consider this a warning for some things to come._

_~Phasma_

I sighed and stuffed the note back into my pocket. Was she threatening me or warning me? I couldn't tell but considering that she could put me in a different universe, I don't think I want her as an enemy. No, this wasn't right. This was still all just a giant hoax. This couldn't have happened. I would get to the bottom of this. And if everything else proves false then…will I be stuck in this world forever? This can't be right…! I need to go home! Why didn't she see I was just angry when I made the wish? I didn't actually want it to come true! If she just made it night, it would have given everyone time to cool off and everything would have been fine. This was all her fault. She shouldn't have listened to me when she knew exactly what would happen. Maybe she was jus trying to teach me a lesson and everything would be back to normal tomorrow. Yes, that had to be it. Everything would be back to normal tomorrow and for now, I can just play along.

A little part of me knew that the hope was a false one but that's all I had. Even though I _knew_ this people, I didn't actually _know_ them. Does that make sense? Probably not but that's what I felt like. A stranger in a strange land despite the fact that it's pretty much exactly the same town… Okay, the same town, a different universe. One where I was raised by my uncle, my father is willing to kill me, my mother lives at the monastery with me and said uncle, Zane apparently works for us, my personality is different from what it is now and there are so many other differences that I don't even know about. How different was my personality anyway? Was I just so annoying people couldn't stand to be around me? Oh, I hoped not.

As I made my way to the local bazar - which was pretty neat, I had to admit - several people there knew me. I seemed to be on friendly terms with them. That was a good thing. That meant I wasn't a complete jerk like I had previously feared.. Once I was almost done, I found shop on the list. It sounded a little familiar but didn't think too much of it. I wasn't supposed to buy anything but check up on the family there. Sensei was a friend of theirs, I guess. "Four Weapons," I said aloud. Since I either hadn't been there before or didn't know where it was, the address was written on the note, thank God.

The place was a little difficult to find after I finally got to the village. It seemed really quaint. There were rice farmers planting their little rice patties in the water that reached to their knees. Despite its quaint appearance as I had put it, also appeared their lives were really simple and just perfect. A few kinks here and there but pretty much perfect. Like in those period dramas that Nya likes watching. Where a thing that seems little compared to the problems I have to deal with on a daily basis but is a big thing to them. Like how well the harvest will be. I like the shows for the most part but it makes me think on how my life could have been. It puts me in a 'brooding' mood, as Jay jokingly calls it. Now I find myself wishing I had that life back when I could have given anything to have more of a normal life. Well my life is clearly more normal and peaceful but just not the way I wanted it. Why did I make that wish again?

"Excuse me?" I asked a man as he was walking past me, hoping he knew where _Four Weapons_ was. He probably would. I was starting to think that _Four Weapons_ was one of the few stores that were here.

"Oh, your Wu's nephew, aren't you?" The man asked me. Am I supposed to know him too? Great. "We haven't met before. I'm Nathan. It's nice to finally meet you." Well there's that question answers that question.

"…Charmed." I answered flatly. I'm not sure why I chose to be unnecessarily sarcastic but I did. "I haven't heard anything about you." I added without thinking.

Nathan laughed good-naturedly. "He told me that you're a witty kid. Well he has a good reason for not telling you but…" he drifted off, his half-smile fading then quickly changing the subject. "You were wondering where _Four Weapons_ is, weren't you?"

"Yes." I responded curtly.

"Well it turns out that I'm the owner of the place. Wu said you'd be coming over today. I didn't think you'd arrive so late, though!" He started laughing again. I think he thinks he's Santa Clause. He's acting so jolly. Or he's just a strange person. He saw my stoic expression then cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh… Come with me and I'll introduce you to the family. Then you can report to your uncle we're just fine."

When I followed him to the weapons shop, I found it wasn't just a shop but also a home near the back. It was small but Nathan kept talking about how great his two kids are, his great wife… He sounded like he had the life every person dreamed about. He seemed to know what he didn't have but was content. The guy sure had a lot of quirks and I felt bad for his kids for a split second. I guessed they loved the guy to death but he must have been aggravating to spend every day of your life with at times. After him talking the entire way and not letting me say a word, he realized he didn't have the key and no one was in yet. Nathan didn't tell me that specifically but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. After a few minutes of him 'making sure the horses were safe', I finally got bored and picked the lock with a hairpin I found on the ground. It most likely belonged to his daughter. For some reason he wouldn't stop talking about his kids, he wouldn't really tell me their names. Maybe he was one of those people who knew everything about their kid except their names. I only know one set of parents who are like that and they kind of weirded me out.

Once Nathan came back, he found me pushing the door open. "You got a key?" He asked, clearly confused.

"I picked the lock. You lost your key." I stated matter-of-factly. I was seeing how I 'picked up' those different personality traits, now. Hopefully I wouldn't be different person completely by the time I got back to my own world. Nonetheless, I couldn't hide my cheeky smirk that looked a little smug. At least I still had that. It probably embarrassed him because he laughed nervously then scratched the back of his neck.

"O-Oh," he stammered. "That was the problem, was it?"

"Yeah."

"Well come in," he quickly recovered from his little episode. "Are you thirsty? My wife makes the best tea, you know."

"So you mentioned. Three or four times."

Nathan took that as a 'yes' and hastily made his way to the kitchen to make some tea. As I made myself at home, I heard the door open and someone in a red dress with a phoenix design and black hair walk into the room. "Dad! Did you leave your key at home again?" She asked in an annoyed, but mostly playful tone.

That voice… That was Nya! This is the shop that Kai mentioned he worked at before! Wait, shouldn't their parents be dead? Bluntly put. "N-No!" Nathan stammered from the other room.

Turning, Nya noticed me and my dumbstruck expression. Well who could blame me? That was one heck of a coincidence. It was like the writer of this story just needed to rush things for plot reasons. What was I thinking?! I think this universe traveling ordeal must have been messing with my head. "Oh, you're Lloyd, right? Dad said you'd be coming today."

"Yeah. Your dad sure likes talking." I commented. I was feeling more comfortable around her than her dad. Even though we were technically strangers, I still sort of knew her.

She blushed slightly. "Yes, well…" she cleared her throat. "He was really looking forward to meeting you. He doesn't really talk that much, promise!" She smiled lightly. "It's nice knowing he's so open with you. That means he likes you. Probably because he's really close friends with your uncle."

I frowned. Come to think of it, I never wondered why Sensei wanted me to check up on Kai and Nya's parents. I was too busy trying to figure out how to get here in the first place. They were close friends. Or Nathan was in over his head with some Ninja-y things. But that didn't make sense because the Ninja team was never made in the first place. Because they weren't needed. Was Nathan's death the reason the Ninja team needed to be made in the first place? I knew my dad and Sensei went around Ninjago with a friend who died in the past. Was Nathan him? I would have asked him but I thought about it before, seeing what happened when I didn't think before acting. He would have wondered why I knew something I shouldn't know and that would result in some unneeded questions.

Nya was doing a pretty good job of continuing the conversation and it didn't seem to drag. She told me about how long it took to make proper blacksmith materials and how her brother - Kai - was too impatient and totally screwed it up. I could easily see that.

The visit there was uneventful and I didn't get to see Kai or his mother. I was slightly disappointed but decided I wouldn't really mind anyway. Besides, I decided once everything was back to normal the next day, I would be stuck living with them again.

_§~§~§_

It was later than I thought it would be by the time I (struggled) to get back to the monastery. It was hard lugging everything around with me up all those stairs and I may or may not have eaten some of the food I brought back. Once I ate dinner and went to bed, I was ready to go back to my world. Unfortunately when I woke up, I was in the same (comfortable) bed, still starting at the blank wall. Well I guess I'm in this for the long haul.

…Wait…

This was bad. No, this was worse than bad! I'm stuck in this universe with no idea how the heck to get back to my world! This universe wasn't that bad but things were too peaceful to be this nice. There had to be a catch. I could tell because of the feeling in the pit of my stomach. That thought was confirmed with what happened that very day.

_§~§~§_

**Happy 4th of July! And in case you don't celebrate that… I dunno. I would make a Friday joke but you probably go to public school, you're on summer vacation. **

**SOSORRYTHISCHAPTERWASASBADASTHELASTONE. IT'SSORUSHED…**

**Anyway, some of you might be confused why the Ninja are acting like jerks. Well that can be easily explained. They're completely and totally stressed out. Not only have they been stripped of all of their elemental powers and left pretty vulnerable for the most part, they need to train the person who is destined to save the world and failing is ****not**** an option. Because if they fail, they won't only die, but the entire world will be taken over by Dictator Garmadon/Overlord. So you get it? Being stressed out can make you really snappy. **

**In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to keep these a/n as short as possible or nonexistent.**

* * *

**dixicorn:** Yep - I'm definitely having more fun with her than I originally intended.

**IceFreak101:** Yes, poor, poor Lloyd. And thanks!

**Sketchrex: **I know, right? the Ninja should be more understanding!

**ForeverDreamer12: **Oh, okay. That's right. I remember now. And hopefully an over-arching plot is making its way into the story… **[foreshadowing sound effects]**

**Guardian Sorceress Alansee: **Yep. That is the 'moral' to this story. Hah! I actually have a moral to one of my stories. Fancy that. All of the paradoxes have been worked out, you should be happy to know and make themselves known in due time.

**shadow ninja: **Aw, don't be too harsh. XP But yeah, the Ninja were kind of being big jerks.

**NorthAmericanJaguar: **Fun fact: I actually planned all of that. Anyway, I was thinking about Garmadon not being evil, but since that would have been a wish that Lloyd liked, I couldn't do that and chose the path where I didn't _completely_ have to re-write Ninjago history.

* * *

**Here's a chapter question:**

If you could rewrite any _Ninjago_ episode, which one would it be and why? And for extra props, you could even say what you would change. I'd love to hear your opinions. :3


	4. Re-Meeting Zane

I was barely able to drag myself out of bed. Do you have any idea how much your body aches after climbing all of those steps? Maybe, maybe not - but your body aches so badly (unless you do it daily…) you aren't able to move. It's like riding a horse for an entire day and not being used to it. You literally can't move. Not like I'd be able to complain about that.

After I stopped thinking about how much my body ached, I started thinking about how I was going to get home. I _needed_ to get home. This universe was nice and all, but I wanted to go back. If I needed to beg Phasma, I would. Well, I would have if she came when I rang the bell. I kept ringing it then started wondering why _nickel_? It doesn't sound very pretty. At all. Just really cheap and annoying. It's probably a ghost thing. Wait, was she a ghost? I didn't know at the time and still don't know. And to be honest, I don't really care. I just needed to get back. I needed a plan. I felt like I was having a mental breakdown because everything had been turned upside down. My life sucked, to put it mildly.

"Lloyd?"

I wonder if I'd be stuck here for the rest of my life. If that was the case, what would happen to the proper universe? Would I just disappear? Would it be completely destroyed or just be paused for all of eternity?

"Lloyd!"

None of those possibilities sounded nice. Being paused forever sounded best, though even though it didn't sound that pleasant at all. What would it be like to be paused for the rest of your life? Well I guess you wouldn't know because it would be paused.

"_Lloyd_!" Zane's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, making me jump and it sent several chills down my spine. Not only because I wasn't expecting Zane to be in the room and because it turned out he had been trying to ask me something for the past thirty seconds.

"Hm?" I tried to hide the slight quiver in my voice. It was probably for naught considering he noticed pretty much everything.

"Is something the matter?" He asked me, looking slightly concerned. "You've been rapt in your thoughts ever since I arrived."

I shook my head, trying to make him stop pressing there. I didn't really want to talk to this Zane. He was more closed off than the Zane I knew…know? "Just thinking." I tried to sound as dismissive as possible. Maybe he would assume it was nothing like how I wanted him to. Wait, I just jinxed it.

"Oh?" He looked at me interestedly, obviously wanting me to continue. How did the most boring-sounding thing pique his interest? It's ridiculous. Now I have to think of a believable lie. But he knows me better than I know myself - in this world, at least. New plan:

Plan B: avert the question completely and change the subject when possible. "Yeah. So you spent yesterday with your dad?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "I believe I told you my plans yesterday, yes?"

Mission: accomplished. "Uh, yeah," I replied a little too quickly. "You did and I remember!" I shifted uncomfortably, hoping for someone - anyone - to enter the room so we could just stop talking completely. Mostly because I didn't know what lies I could get away with at the time. Otherwise, it would have been somewhat pleasant to have a conversation with him. Maybe coax out some information? But he had to catch me zoning out.

"So what were you thinking of?" He changed the topic back to what I didn't want it. Mission: impossible. Must eliminate topic at all costs. Therefore, I will lie. That will eliminate the conversation, won't it? After all, he can't ask something he thinks he has the answer to.

"…Just about my…my…uh—"

"Responsibilities for the nearing future?" He finished for me. I had no idea what the heck he was talking about but since it was believable for him, I agreed by default.

"Y-Yeah, that's it." I tried not to stammer. I really did. Now how was I going to continue this lie when I had no idea what he was talking about? Maybe not even _Zane_ knew what I was talking about. Low, low chance but still possible. It was better than nothing? Well not really because the theory was close to nothing. I need to stop overthinking this.

He looked at me carefully. "I know we aren't exactly very close, but if you ever need to talk about it…" he stopped there, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

Zane not knowing what to say? That's a first.

Okay, then he does know about the 'responsibilities for the near future'. What were they, exactly? We they defeating my father? Maybe. Probably. Hopefully. I can't believe I just said that. I've been dreading that since training: day one. But if that _was_ the case, then I'd know what he was talking about. If the thought had occurred to me, I would have pretended I needed consoling to try to get to what he was talking about without actually outright stating anything. Unfortunately the thought never came to me since I already assumed that he was talking about 'the final battle'.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Things started getting interesting when Misako - I'm sorry, _Mother_ came back to work early, saying that employees were let off early that day then rushed to Sensei as if she had something very, very important she needed to tell him. It didn't strike me as strange until Zane approached me without me noticing then scared the heck out of me when he said, "That's odd."

After trying to regain my bearings and trying to lower my blood pressure, I looked at him questioningly. "Why?" I asked. "What's odd about being let off early?"

"They let off all of their employees," he explained. "Or at least the majority of them. Obviously a company needs employees to keep them running."

"Okay?"

He sighed then spelled it out for me. "Today is a weekday. It's Thursday. This is the busiest day for Misako's employers. There would be no chance that they'd let her off on a day like this."

"Archeologists have a really big day for business?"

"Yes."

"That's really weird." I commented.

He nodded in agreement. "Yes…" he shook his head then went back to our topic at hand. "But as I was saying, why would they let off most of their employees?"

I shrugged, not getting what he was getting at. "Maybe they were feeling generous or were just slow this time. It's nothing weird." I dismissed the idea and leaned against the door, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation Sensei was having with my mother. I couldn't exactly hear what they were saying but got a synopsis of the conversation.

Someone was onto someone and one of those someones needed to go into protection. But since Sensei didn't have any solid evidence of someone onto the other someone, they were going to unofficially-officially take the hunted person or persons subtly under moderation done by the monastery. I was almost certain they were talking about _our_ monastery. Why would we need to moderate someone who was in danger of _someone_ who was tracking them down? Now that I think about it, it sounds really creepy and something I don't want to know about.

Neither of them sounded like they were going to tell me or anyone else and using common sense, that probably means this is supposed to stay a secret between Sensei, Misako, and the third party. But why wouldn't they let me in? This 'other world' obviously had its secrets.

When I heard footsteps coming towards the door, I quickly backed up while Zane practically dragged me out of the hallway where I wouldn't be seen. I could easily hear a few words exchanged by the two:

"I'll have Zane deliver the memo to him tomorrow," Sensei told her.

Misako nodded subtly. "And I'll try to get the others contacted. They should be willing to help considering," she frowned before continuing, "like it or not, we will need some help with this. He's never tried to track anyone like this before."

Sensei wore a blank expression. "Yes. But that also means that something else is going on. If possible, try to convince Julien to hack into one of their computers. Any information will be useful."

She looked at him and said warningly, "I'll try but you know how he feels about all of this."

"Yes, but if you tell him how important this is, perhaps he'll reconsider."

She left Sensei and started walking in mine and Zane's direction before we could move, panicking, I started to pretend that we were having a conversation. Hopefully Zane would catch on. I would be toast if I was caught eavesdropping. "And then she told me that she didn't have any carrots, either…!"

He looked at me strangely, obviously not getting the message. I internally sighed and clenched my teeth. "How in the world do you put up with those merchants? They try to scam you—"

"They do? I never noticed." He commented, still not getting the message but it worked because Misako walked past without giving us any mind.

Sighing with relief I checked around the corner to make sure she was out of an earshot. "That was me pretending we were talking instead of eavesdropping!" I snapped at him.

He looked at me blankly. "Oh."

I groaned then changed the topic. "Zane, do you know what they were talking about?" I asked. "Because they obviously don't want _us_ knowing so it must be interesting. Can you bring me with you when you take that letter to whoever Sensei makes you?" I asked. I really, really wanted to know. And curiosity didn't kill the cat. Ignorance and stupidity did. But I wasn't either nor was I a cat so I had nothing to worry about. I think. Nevertheless, I wanted…no, _needed_ to know what they were talking about.

"What are you talking about?"

"The conversation we just heard!"

"I wasn't listening to it." He answered simply.

"Then why were you sticking around?" I asked incredulously.

"I was waiting for the correct moment to drag you away so you wouldn't be caught eavesdropping. It saved me a headache." He explained, not even sounding the slightest but concerned. "And you apparently heard that I'm going to be delivering a message to someone?"

I nodded and summed up the conversation I had heard merely seconds…minutes? Ago. He didn't even seem interested when I finished. "Well?" I asked expectantly. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"No."

"Why not?!" I asked. "Aren't you curious?" I demanded.

Zane nodded hesitantly. "…Yes," he answered after a pause. "Yes, I'm curious. But it's none of our business. If they don't want to tell us, they shouldn't have to. We should stay out of it. It sounds dangerous."

I sighed. "But Zane! What if it _is_ as dangerous as you say and something happens to someone but if we didn't know what's going on, we wouldn't be able to do something! Isn't that a valid reason? And if it's too dangerous, then we can back out." I said, not even thinking about what I was going to say next. I just tried to think of a good excuse to get Zane help me out with this.

He looked at me and there was a longish pause before he finally gave in, albeit begrudgingly. "If you put it that way…"

"Which I do."

"I suppose you can come along should Sensei allow it," he finished. "But if it gets too dangerous, we will back out immediately, agreed?"

I nodded violently, mentally singing hallelujah. "Yeah - agreed!" it didn't look like he completely agreed with me but it was enough to silence him. He said that 'if Sensei would let me go'. I knew for a fact he wouldn't but he couldn't object if he didn't know, right? And what he knows won't hurt him, right? And besides, giving a memo to a guy shouldn't be dangerous. And if it was, I'd back out of it. Okay, yeah, no. I was not going to back out of this if it killed me.

…

…

Though I would prefer if it didn't. In that case I shouldn't be making dead jokes. It's _killing_ me, though. Anyone would _die_ for my dead jokes. Now that I was thinking about it, what would happen if I die? Would I go back to my normal universe? Or would I just completely vanish from existence? I tried to shake the thoughts out of my head because that wouldn't happen. It couldn't. I was too lucky for that. I have gotten out of some narrow situations before and got out of them practically unscathed.

The next day, I made sure to wake early should Zane have left early. It turned out it was for naught since he didn't leave until noon. It just so happened that Sensei decided that since I decided to wake up so early, we'd do some extra training to fit into my schedule. And it took up valuable time and Zane wasn't able to wait for me. I lost one of the few chances I'd ever get to figure out where he went. It really infuriated me - it was like Sensei _knew_ that I was planning to sneak off and used this as punishment for something I didn't do… Even if I was planning it, it was something I still didn't do! Now I get to make all the dead jokes I want.

Misako stayed at the monastery all day today except she took the day off, not because the company she worked for gave her the day off. Mostly, she was going through some scrolls. When Sensei decided I could have an hour of free time, I decided to try to see why she was so interested in them. It was probably just an archaeologist thing but I was bored beyond comprehension and Zane hadn't come back yet. "What's that about?" I asked, approaching the table. The words were in an odd language that Jay calls…called(?) chicken scratch. I was inclined to disagree because Nya had started teaching me what the symbols are and meant and how to write them with a calligraphy brush. Now let me tell you something, it is anything _but_ chicken scratch. Well my characters looked like chicken scratch compared to Nya's practically perfect characters but in fewest words possible, ancient Ninjago characters are a pain to write. I looked down at the scroll to make out some of the few characters I knew.

'Slim', 'gone', 'death', 'hope', and 'destiny'. I could barely read part of a sentence. It obviously was very old since its literal translation was, 'water forth light world'. I always knew English had far too many extra words, but really? It had that many extra words? Or was something or someone really supposed to…water a fourth 'light world'? Maybe. Weirder things had happened to me. A thought came to me: I always mix up 'temple' and 'bring' since the characters are basically exactly the same except one of them has a subtle extra mark. I have no idea whose idea it was to make those characters exactly the same but I was too busy feeling awesome to wonder about it. 'Water temple light world'. That didn't make sense, either.

"It's an old folktale people used to tell at the beginning of time," Misako's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "It's about how a young man creates temples of every element," she explained. "You know the ones - fire, earth, lightning, and ice."

That didn't explain the water. Maybe I was wrong? "What about the water part?" I asked, just to be sure as I pointed to the two characters that sounded out the word.

She looked at me, surprised. I debated whether or not it was a 'pleasant' surprise or a, 'who are you and what have you done with Lloyd?' look. I decided to go with the former since a: it was shorter, and b: was much more nicer for my ego. "You studied the books I gave you?"

Uh…no. "I did," I tried to sound as convincing as possible. I didn't study the books _she_ gave me but I studied the books _Nya_ gave me. Maybe they were the same books? Maybe not. Probably not.

"I didn't think you'd actually read those."

"Me neither." I muttered then said in a louder voice, "So what about the water? That's not really an element for us, is it?"

Misako's index finger slid to the other side of the page. "Here," she pointed. "It mentions here in the story about how the Chinese 'created' their own elements. Such as wood, fire, water, etcetera." She explained.

I didn't believe her. Why would a _Japanese-Ninjago_ (or so I assumed) folktale mention something about China? What did it really say? And where was Zane when you actually needed him? Maybe she'd let me borrow it so I could 'translate' it - aka, have Zane read it for me. "Can I borrow it?" I asked. "I want to see if I can translate some of it." The words flew out of my mouth without thinking. I needed to start controlling what I say because what I've been thinking has come out of my mouth without me thinking. That was not good. I don't want to be one of those people who think out loud.

She hesitated and glanced at the scroll then back at me. "…No," she said after a pause. "I'm sorry - it's just old and I can't risk it getting messed up. Not that I don't trust you, of course," she added after she saw my expression. "I just can't have it messed up. It's worth quite a mint."

"Then can I try translating it with your supervision?" I tried. It wouldn't work but maybe she'd try helping… No, she wouldn't. Why did she lie to me in the first place? And why was I finding out about all these other secrets? She didn't strike me as the type to hide this kind of stuff from me.

Misako hesitated before answering. "No…" she said slowly. "I'm not supposed to show it until its release to the museum. It's a rule."

"Why didn't you just say so?" I asked, trying to sound curious instead of annoyed. Why didn't she want me to read the scroll? What was in there that I shouldn't see?

She didn't answer the question and instead changed the topic. "So how was training today so far?"

_§~§~§_

Zane _finally _came back and just in time too. I was having the most awkward conversation that one could have with their mother and I was trying to get out of it at all costs but she didn't seem to notice and kept asking me questions that I thought I knew the answer to but could be wrong due to the switch in universes. And if she asked me while I was lying, that would be big trouble. Then I'd have to think up a new lie that could possibly have more holes in it than Swiss cheese.

After Zane finished telling Sensei he successfully delivered the memo, or more accurately, the envelope with a wax seal and everything, I decided to excuse myself from the (rather one-sided) conversation and interrogate Zane on where he went. He told me to meet him near the garbage dump after dinner under the guise of me helping take out the trash and he would tell me then.

So I waited. I waited three more hours for Zane to start dinner. Two hours for him to actually finish it. One more hour to _finish_ dinner. Six hours. I waited _six hours_. But I passed the time by training until all of my limbs felt like they were going to fall off so that was _so_ much fun. You should come some time. I formally invite you.

"Lloyd, can you help me with the trash tonight?" Zane asked me once he finished the dishes. Yes! The moment I spent waiting for six hours has finally come!

I nodded and nearly tripped over my feet (mostly my wooden katana, though) to run through the door after Zane before Sensei could even comment. The moment of 'truth'. Who was this someone that we were going to keep surveillance over for who knows how long.

"Sowhodidyougoto?" I asked quickly, dumping the trash in the dustbin.

He looked at me pointedly. "I can't understand you when you speak that fast, Lloyd." Zane said flatly.

I glowered at him. He knew perfectly well what I was saying! He was messing with me on purpose and so help me…

"I went to that shop you went to yesterday." Zane said after a few more seconds of straight glaring.

"Which one? I went to a lot."

"The one out of town - _Four Weapons_, was it? The man I needed to deliver it to is named Nathan Black. Unfortunately Mr. Black wasn't there so his son - who was currently present - took it in his absence," Zane frowned. "I hope he didn't break the seal. It was illegal to do so in the 1800s, you know." He informed me.

I wasn't listening. I was wondering why _Four Weapons_? What did Sensei have to do with them? I knew he knew them but why and how does he know him? Why does Nathan Black need protection at all? "So I'm assuming you didn't read the letter?" I asked, deflating.

"No. It was in code so even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to read it," he said. "It doesn't look like it's any code in any books. It's completely D.I.Y.."

"How did you know it was written in code?"

"I could see some of it through the light of the sun," he answered innocently. "It wasn't like I tried to look at it like that, if that's what you're thinking."

I rolled my eyes. "_Sure_, Zane. You're just as curious as I am."

He paused before answering. "I will neither confirm nor deny whether that statement is true."

"So I'm taking that as a yes?" I teased.

There was another silence. "…Yes…"

* * *

**Explanation for chapter & a/n**

I spent five consecutive minutes wondering if Lloyd would call Misako 'mom' or just 'Misako'. So I remembered Misako's debut. Lloyd reacted somewhat badly and angst'ed about it for a solid 3-5 minutes then forgave her because of the explanation why she left him at a _totally_ legitimate boarding school for the future savior of Ninjago and because he's older and more mature. Obviously, Lloyd never got that explanation because he never went to Darkley's in the first place since he was left by Garmadon to be raised by Wu and had already gotten an explanation several months prior when he was introduced to Misako (see chapter 3, I think?). Also he was kind of an immature brat in episodes 1-15 so that too.

You are either reading this a/n because a: you're new to this story - welcome! B: have not read this chapter yet and is previous reader or c: you are re-reading this chapter. Why are you re-reading this chapter? Well I forgot to reply to the reviews and it's kind of a thing I do...so yeah.

* * *

**Review responses**

**Guest #1: **Yeah, I guess that would be an interesting episode, but that would call for a mini-arc since it would span 3-5 episodes and would be distracting to the main plot. But I wouldn't have minded seeing that. :]

**Fell-and-Fallen: **Thanks! I'm actually using this story as an excuse for practicing writing in first person (hence the 'test' in the summary) but again, thanks for your review!

**Guardian Sorceress Alanshee: **I know I should have mentioned this before, but I forgot... I haven't seen any episodes beyond 30... I knew Zane died but Nya chose Cole over **_JAY_**?! Nya, what the [bleep]?! Anyways, I really do agree with what you said on Zane dying. It would have been better that way.

**ForeverDreamer12: **I surprised myself when I actually kept that in there, actually. I usually don't put that in my stories but I'm glad you liked it. XD And HOLYCOWPOOP, I agree with you SO FREAKING MUCH on that. So much I'll make an exception for you. I like love triangles only if they're executed well. Clearly _Ninjago_ cannot execute a love triangle well. And basically, Nya just fell in love with Cole because of a machine. It brainwashed her! That's how it finds those perfect matches! It brainwashes people. New head cannon.

**dixicorn: **I agree - it was a dumb way to get rid of the Mega Weapon. And you have a really interesting theory! I like it. Maybe a completely new fan fiction is in order... Or you could just ask Phasma... ;D

**Guest #2: **Wow, I am really, really sorry for having to dub you Guests with numbers because you still make my day with your reviews... I'll have to think of a nickname for you guys. And thank you so much for the compliment! I try. :P

**Guest #3: **Well your person is your harshest judge. But that's good because you (should) always see where you need to improve but thanks - things will start slowing down really, really soon once I solidify the plot.

**wafflestheninja: **My first reaction after hearing Zane died in episode 34?: "OH IS P.I.X.A.L. GONNA BE THE NEW WHITE NINJA? NOOOOO!" Yeah, I hate P.I.X.A.L. beyond belief. Sorry...

**17blanceri: **Are you crazy - that episode's awesome. XD Of course I haven't seen it in a year and no _Ninjago_ episode at all for six months which might explain why Zane's OOC. NEVERTHELESS! It's no excuse.

**NorthAmericanJaguar: **The Ninja didn't really create any paradoxes. They just destroyed the Mega Weapon that was created in the present (...future? Time travel's confusing) in the past and therefore stop Garmadon from creating more paradoxes. Then when the Ninja in the past go to the Ninja's present in episode 19, then they go back in time... Wow, time travel really _is_ confusing. I can't even explain this really well without this getting too long.

**NinjagoLover72: **Updates every Friday at approximately 8:00 p.m. EST. [:

* * *

**Chapter question**

What is Cole's _least_ favorite food? I would have asked you about all of the Ninja but it would have been a unanimous vote: Cole's food in general but since his tastebuds are corrupted, he never notices he's a terrible cook. What do you think and why?


	5. First Person I

After Lloyd had vanished without a trace, various supernatural things had started happening around Ninjago. None of them could be explained. It didn't start out small, either. Several 'ghosts' had been sighted in various parts around Ninjago island and things - or even people starting disappearing before others' eyes. People were on edge, not that you could blame them. People were going MIA before their eyes and 'ghosts' were seen strolling along the street. It was like a low budget horror movie._  
_

There was but one warning that someone was going to vanish: there was a ring of a tiny bell.

* * *

**The end. Thank you for reading my story, everyone!**


	6. The Time Ninja

I laughed slightly at Zane's response. I didn't know why, I just did. Well, before I processed who Black's son was. If Nya was his daughter and Kai was her sister, that meant that Kai and Nya's father is Nathan Black because that's how genetics work! Okay, just kidding. It meant that they are going to be put under our protection. Why? But since Zane was almost as curious as I was about this, maybe he'd be more willing to help me out with this. "Zane, you know how Sensei mentioned getting a someone named 'Julien' helping them out with whatever they're doing?" I asked.

"No." Zane responded. "I wasn't listening, remember? And I'd assume the Julien they were speaking of is my father considering neither of them know another Julien to my knowledge."

Wait, Zane has a—alternate universe. Right. Does that mean someone adopted him or his creator never died or…? I'm missing so much… Sensei always kept good records. Maybe he'd let me look at them to see what was so different than now. For research purposes. Or maybe Misako would help me out. But I can't ask her something until I get Zane to translate that scroll thing that she was looking at earlier. Of course she wouldn't hand it over. So we'd have to use brute force.

Or just steal it while she was at work or asleep. Probably that considering she'd probably bring it with her when she went to work. I'd just break into her room, 'borrow' the scroll, take it to Zane, get him to translate it for me, and take it back. Simple. Nothing too terrible could happen. I mean, the most trouble I could get into was for sneaking around and breaking into Misako's room. And I could pull the 'I was just training' card Jay had taught me. Or the 'I was making tea for you'. Neither of them worked but it was better than nothing. In fact, I was really surprised I remembered those excuses at all. It was weird. But first, I needed to get Zane to agree to translate it for me. I just wouldn't tell him I wasn't supposed to have it and got it through legitimate means and didn't steal it from Misako.

Or just tell him the entire story and he'd agree to help me. Uh… None of those sound particularly nice. Honesty is the best policy unless you're in a different universe. Therefore, honesty is not the best policy because if you tell the complete truth while you're in another world, you're going to be sent to an insane asylum. so I will lie and say I want him to translate something for me. Something completely normal. You know. Like at one in the morning when every normal person should be asleep. Okay, maybe he'd ask why it would be at such a peculiar hour.

"Lloyd?"

I looked at Zane who interrupted my thoughts. The jerk. I was thinking. "What?" I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice.

"You were in your thoughts again."

"Oh. I guess so."

"You were wearing a thoughtful expression."

"Well that's what happens when you think. You wear a thinking expression." I wasn't sure where that snarky comment came from. I remembered about the warning Phasma had given me. My 'alternate person' personality was taking over. I sounded like I had a split-personality and I didn't have one…to my knowledge. Did I? Someone would have told me or accidentally spilt it, wouldn't they? Or was I a walking terror and I didn't even know it and that was why—

Zane interrupted my thoughts once again. "Let's get back inside," he caught a tiny water drop on his index finger. "It is beginning to rain. We should be getting inside."

"Can you translate something from me?" I asked before following him back inside the monastery. "Like at one o'clock tomorrow morning?"

He looked at me strangely. "Does this have something to do with Misako's scroll she brought back here today?"

He caught me. Dang. He didn't miss a beat, did he? Or he was psychic. Knowing him, probably both. Might as well tell him. It wasn't like he was going to get much other truth out of me. And if he refused to help me? I don't know. Then I'd have to actually need to read the books Misako apparently gave me then teach myself. And it's much easier said than done. And if you weren't good at what you were trying to teach yourself, it's also confusing. "Yes…" I responded hesitantly. "And when I asked her to translate it for me, she lied and said it was about something different and she has me wondering."

Zane frowned. "Why would she lie about the content of a scroll?" He asked me.

Like I knew. "I don't know." I responded flatly. "That's why I want you to translate it for me. Maybe it has something else that they want to keep from us and it's related to the Blacks' protection thing." I suggested. It could be related. I never really thought about it but it just came out because I was thinking an excuse for him to help me out off the top of my head.

He agreed grudgingly but I could kinda tell he was a fraction of how excited I was about this 'mystery'. I shook my head. No. I was getting too much into this. I needed to figure out how to get back home, not get so involved in this world. Once I figured out what that scroll said, I would back out then try to figure out how to get back home. That was it. I wasn't sure how but that's what I decided to do from then. And Phasma was the only person I knew who knew how to take me back but I didn't think she would considering how stubborn she was. I tried not to think what would happen if I stayed here…of course I wouldn't. Maybe she'd feel sorry for me enough then send me back. If she could send me back, that is. And if she couldn't, then I'd figure out how to get back myself. I needed a Plan B. Everyone with common sense had a backup plan. _What will my backup plan be?_ I wondered to myself.

Later that night (or early the morning, I couldn't really tell and didn't care) I snuck into Misako's room in attempt to find the scroll. As it turns out, she has a lot of them. And by a lot, I mean _a lot_. She's got an obsession going on. I couldn't tell which one was which. Obviously, I didn't know enough of 'chicken scratch', I couldn't determine which one was which. The woman didn't even organize them! She probably did but I couldn't figure it out because she was either writing in code (even if there was really no reason for that) or her handwriting was so bad only she could read it. I went with the latter because my handwriting was definitely not the best and I know what Dad's handwriting looks like. It looked like was a font out of a computer. That was one mystery solved, at least.

I wondered if I should have taken all of them then get Zane to translate all of them. Well at least they all looked different. There were about five scrolls that looked relatively similar to the scroll Misako had earlier so I decided to just take them all instead of take all thirty to thirty-five scrolls then struggle to put them back in the same order that they were previously. I didn't even know why I had to think about it to make a decision like that. I think this has made me lose some of my IQ points.

Zane was waiting warily in the studying room where Sensei apparently taught me the things that weren't physical where I told him to before I snuck into my mother's room. He was looking around, making sure no one was around. "Zane, it's in the middle of the night. No normal person's going to be awake at this hour." I said, rolling my eyes and putting the scrolls on the table then rolling them out. "I couldn't tell which one was which so you may or may not have to go through all of these."

He didn't look too irritated and if he was, I didn't notice. "But if you said was true," Zane said, picking up one of the scrolls then started scanning it before he continued, "then we shouldn't be caught."

Hopefully. I wasn't sure what would happen if we were caught but it most likely wouldn't be good and we'd have to make up some lame excuse. It probably wouldn't be believable. While I was on that train of thought, I decided to think of a believable excuse to why we were both up with Misako's scrolls. Uhm… I got nothing. Maybe someone was stealing them and we heroically came into save them!…No. Just no. That sounded better when it first came to mind and the more I was thinking about it, the more dumb it sounded.

"This one is a nursery rhyme," Zane reported, setting the scroll he was looking at aside. "I suppose it was supposed to rhyme in the original language. Perhaps the term of 'rhyming' was different at the beginning of time." He mused.

"No, I'm pretty sure the concept of rhyming stays the same." I commented.

"Then why is this called, 'Nursery Rhyme'?" He asked. "It doesn't rhyme in English nor the language 'tis written in."

"Oh." I didn't really care about the rhyming. Really. I didn't. Zane was the person who brought it up. Not me. "What was the rhyme about?" I asked.

"You mean the quote unquote 'rhyme'." He corrected me as I handed him the next scroll.

"Whatever."

"It was about a man named… I think it was Cardinsto?" He responded while going through the scroll half-heartedly. "He could apparently control nature of any kind. Including used wood. It involved Sensei and said character turned his staff into a snake."

I frowned. It reminded me vaguely of a story I had heard once. "As if that could really happen." I was asking Zane more than saying it without actually asking him. That was an oxymoron, wasn't it? A lot of things I say are an oxymoron. No, that wasn't an oxymoron. That just didn't make sense. Like this paragraph.

"If I recall correctly, this Cardinsto was in some legend so it is possible this 'rhyme' rings some truth," he responded. "I wonder if this has anything to do with our situation…" he murmured.

"Cardinsto?"

"No, this scroll," he laid it out so I could see the characters. "I doubt it's the scroll you had seen previously but it mentions here a 'time ninja' and no one knows his original name - just that he was a thief," he pointed to some characters, reading and translating. "'Long ago, an unnamed thief dared to expose himself to the power of the Crono Crater, hoping it would make him immortal. Instead, he now lives his life one second ahead everyone else and has become the Time Ninja. He knows what you will say before you say it and knows how you will strike before you do it'."

"What kind of bedtime story is that?" I asked, trying to understand the alien characters.

Zane shrugged. "I'm not completely sure this is a bedtime story. More like a history story that was lost over the years. Perhaps this is the last and only documentation of the Time Ninja."

It wouldn't surprise me. Misako was kind of an archaeologist so it made sense. "Why do you think the Time Ninja is related to our situation?" I asked. "I don't see any connections."

"You would call it a 'hunch'," he responded simply. Oh. His sixth sense, probably. So this had something to do with the Time Ninja. That was one mystery solved unless I found something that proved Zane's sense wrong. How did his creator manage to code that? He must have been some sort of genius or something.

"…Oh." I unintentionally sounded a little disappointed. Maybe overthinking Zane's sixth sense made me 'under-think' the tone I said 'oh' in.

He slightly deflated. "You do not believe me?"

"No…! I mean… yes! I mean…n— yes, I believe you." I tripped over my words. Was I supposed to say 'yes' or 'no' to a question like that? If I said 'no', then I wouldn't believe him and if I said 'yes' then I would be agreeing with him, therefore saying, 'I do not believe you'. So the best way to say that you believe him, you say, 'I believe you do not question me otherwise'. You might want to cut out the, 'do not trust me otherwise' line, though. It kinda sounded rude. Or you can just be rude and keep that in there.

He shrugged. "If you do not believe me you needn't lie. I don't mind. I'm used to it." He sounded so…used to it. How much did people reject his sixth sense and called him out as crazy to not be believed? It made me feel a little sorry for him, to be honest.

"No, I believe you - I really do. The tone just came out wrong. That's all." I tried to fix the damage I had made. I wasn't sure how easy it would be but knowing Zane, he would probably just let it go and not mention it again.

"Lying isn't becoming of you, Lloyd."

Never mind. I do not know Zane. That was _ridiculous_ for me to think I knew him. How absurd! Sarcasm. "I wasn't– never mind. Just get the next one." I snatched the scroll away from him a little harsher than I had intended and was grateful that it didn't tear. I was really tired and wanted to go to sleep. Too bad I didn't consider how tired I would be at one or whatever time it was. It didn't start coming to me until I snapped at a slightly surprised Zane.

I didn't bother to apologize.

The next scroll was probably the longest but didn't actually _say_ anything, if that made sense. It just seemed to be the journal of some old person who didn't have anything else to talk about except their cat and caboodle. It was a really awkward journal.

Finally, the scroll I was originally looking for and was inconveniently the last one we looked at (typical). "This just looks like a red herring." Zane commented as he skimmed through.

"Okay, but what does it say?" I wasn't going to let my efforts go down the drain. That would just be annoying.

"It is exactly what Misako said it was. A folktale, as you had put it."

"What about the water thing?" I asked.

"That…I don't know."

"What's that supposed to mean? Didn't you read through it?" I asked.

He nodded before hesitantly continuing, "There were some characters that I didn't understand," Zane admitted. "I am actually surprised you were able to read that far."

It's official. I needed to go home. Now. I knew something was wrong when I knew something Zane didn't. But admittedly, it was kind of nice. "Oh…really? So you couldn't read some of it?" I asked lamely.

"No," Zane confirmed with a shake of his head. "I was barely able to read most of it but I am positive that it is simply a folktale."

"But the percentage of doubt…?" I didn't much care for the percentage. I just wanted to… I'm not sure. It just came out that way.

"Twenty-eight percent on the dot," he answered. "There is enough doubt to have it analyzed by a professional but I do not believe there is anything of interest, as I said previously."

Get it analyzed by a pro. Alright. How was I going to manage that? I had to give the scrolls back to Misako before she woke up at six to seven in the morning and I could almost guarantee that she would notice almost immediately. Hmm… I wanted to analyze it but I just didn't know how. _Would Nya still know how to read this stuff? _ I wondered to myself. Maybe. But when and how would I get the chance to bring it up in general conversation? It would be weird if I just waltzed up to her then asked her to translate a scroll I 'borrowed from my mom'. Then what would happen if she didn't know how? That would be awkward. And what if she asked _why_ I thought she would be able to translate it for me. That would call for some lame lies. That sounded neat. I just wanted to say that. Okay, so Nya was officially Plan B. I seem to be more organized than I originally was. There goes my own personal Bleeding Effect. Except someone else wasn't 'bleeding' into me. _I_ was bleeding into me. If that made sense. Does that mean it would teach me to do Spinjitzu? That would be cool. Maybe—

"Lloyd, I'll take these back," Zane (one again) interrupted my thoughts then carried the scrolls back to presumably Misako's room. Well now I'd have to burgle her again. Thanks a lot, Zane. "You get some sleep. I think Sensei wants to start training extra early tomorrow, or more accurately, later in the morning."

Really? This must be bad karma coming back to haunt me. There was no other explanation to it. You know, other than me just being an inconvenient person with a really inconvenient lifestyle. Knowing me, probably both. Or I could have the karma of the _other_ me. Wow. No matter how much I think about it, it still sounds like a really weird sci-fi sentence from a really weird sci-fi movie.

"O-Okay," I stammered for really no apparent reason. Maybe it was because I was tired. I did some really weird stuff when I was tired. "Night, Zane." I said as I practically dragged myself back to my room. I was going to regret this so much when I wake up in a few hours then curse myself repeatedly for being so curious. Curiosity _did_ kill the cat. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. Whoever does is an idiot.

When I dragged myself into bed and it felt like the second I closed my eyes, Sensei came into my room, banging his annoying, loud gong. I groaned and covered my head with my pillow, trying to ignore him. It didn't work very well but it kind of helped. What time was it anyway?

"Lloyd! Wake up! We're going to do some extra training today! I hope you slept well." He snatched my blanket off of me, _forcing_ me to wake up. Child labour was against the law, right? "I'll see you outside on the training grounds. I'm going to be teaching you a new technique today since you seemed to have mastered the previous ones I have taught you."

I mastered something? Me? Ha! That sounded way too good to be true. He was just messing with me. But really, what was this new technique he was going to be teaching me? Despite being half-asleep, I managed to get out of bed and get fully dressed rather quickly then meet him outside. I wasn't sure how Sensei got the training things up so fast, though. There was probably a really simple way he did it and I couldn't figure it out. Sensei picked up a little device thing then shot it in my direction, knocking me off my feet. I didn't know what it was. It was a little - no, a lot too fast for me to even see. "We are going to see how fast you can react." He explained

This was going to be a long day. And how was this a new learning technique again?

* * *

**Late Chapter Excuse**

So...funny story - I planned on posting this chapter an hour and thirty minutes after _Third Person I_ but some things came up and when I went to work on it on my laptop, it turned out that I didn't actually save it to my laptop. It was on the iMac which was downstairs and I wanted to stay in my room (and if you know about iMacs, they cannot be transported from downstairs). So instead, I just waited until I got back on the iMac to finish this chapter up. And fortunately no one took the a/n about the story being finished seriously (probably because of the 'I' since that means 1 in Roman numerals, therefore there are more chapters to come). I don't know why I put that there. Don't ask. Not even _I_ know how it works sometimes.

Well anyway, there are probably going to be several more third person chapters before I completely just throw them out of the story completely and focus on first person. They're just going to be randomly sprinkled around sporadically when I need an extra one day excuse to update or something. I don't even consider them chapters. They're like fillers to annoy the heck out of you guys when I spend too much time playing _Assassin's Creed: Pirates_.

Oh, and I have several references in this chapter. You might have picked them up. Especially the Ninjago references so 'the Time Ninja' and Cardinsto are not OCs. Don't worry.

* * *

**Review Responses for chapter 4**

**Sketchrex: **What is the opposite of cake...? Hmm...to Google! Well it's either unhappiness or pudding according to Yahoo! Answers. You can be the judge.

**Zane's Girlfriend: **They weren't Chinese characters (given ninjas were originally Japanese) but the language of 'Ancient Ninjago'. Whatever that was because I haven't seen _Rise Of the Snakes_(?) in a really long time. That or it really doesn't have an official name.

**17blanceri: **We discussed this via private messages and are now rambling about Pokémon!

**NinjagoLover72: **Hmm... Maybe. This calls for an interrogation! *draws the shades and dramatically brings out the cliché lamp*

**ForeverDreamer12: **Yay for random _Phoenix Wright_ references which is actually the origin of them. That's somewhat of a fun fact for people who haven't played the game. Be expected to hear other random video game references. In this chapter, I made two. And thanks - I still need to work on the first person a little more, though. Sigh...

* * *

**Review Responses for _First Person I_**

**Sketchrex: **So...this story is 20% cooler, then?

**NinjagoLover72: **Don't worry - I'm not planning on ending this story so soon. Especially without a proper resolution and a bittersweet ending. XP

**Guest: **Well it was somewhat of a joke. =3

* * *

**Chapter Question**

Have you read the Ninjago comic books? If you have, I'm almost positive you found my hidden Easter egg(s)!


	7. Unexpected Visitors

I spent all day trying to avoid whatever Sensei Wu was shooting at me. I couldn't figure it out and when I spent too long trying to see it, the thing kept knocking me off my feet. It was like me getting stung by an electric fence meaning it didn't really hurt that badly but was bad enough so you would curse whoever was in view whether it was, alive or not. He kept telling me to focus but it really was for naught. He didn't even tell me what I had to do and since I didn't see what where it was coming from, I couldn't figure it out. I tried looking for a pattern but let's be honest. I am no Zane by far. It kept hitting me in different parts of my body, knocking me to my side, my back, my face, pretty much everywhere. I didn't get much of a break either. A five-minute lunch break and that was it. Sensei looked somewhat amused and it didn't take me long to figure out he was slightly amused.

During my brief lunch break I had asked Zane what word I should use to describe it since he's my walking dictionary and/or thesaurus. The word was 'schadenfreude'. I asked for an alternative and the other one was 'sadism'. I wasn't sure how to respond so I thanked him for the German-sounding word before I was called back into training.

Zane looked like he wanted to tell me something but never actually said it out loud during my rant and it wasn't until after I was called back did I notice then it distracted me even more. According to the other Ninja back home, he used to be extremely closed off and never spoke what was on his mind until he started warming up to them several months later. I'm going to have to assume all of the progress that the team made had been erased from history since it technically never happened so now Zane is more insecure than necessary because he didn't have the encouragement from his team. It made me wonder what kind of support his creator gave him. Maybe he was one of those anti-social geniuses and he's pretty cold to everyone but him. Maybe I'll meet this Julien guy some time. He could help me out with Zane, probably.

_Zap!_

Sensei's taser(?) knocked me to the ground again, zapping my back. Now that it hit me for probably the thousandth time that day, I started thinking, what was knocking me over? It wasn't the taser thing. It wasn't strong enough for that. Was there something I wasn't noticing? Glancing at the floor, I saw a tiny, well-disguised mechanism scoot back to Sensei. "Hey!" I protested.

He chuckled. "It seems you figured it out. It sure took you long enough. I'm surprised you didn't notice it until now," he commented. "It wasn't exactly the most quiet training 'helper' I have."

"It was kind of hard to notice that thing when I was busy hitting the ground," I practically snarled. "And what was the point of all of this anyway?" I demanded, not seeing any significance. "How will this help me do anything?"

My sensei stroked his beard. "Ah, you ask the question of 'what's the point'. Well, nephew, it pays to have a sharp mind, doesn't it? I have told you this many times but only now am I demonstrating it. You'll figure it out when you are ready."

I opened my mouth to protest about his usual cryptic-ness but he seemed to have whipped out his teapot from out of nowhere and was pouring himself some tea. "Get some rest! I'm sure you are tired from showing the stones your face and I don't want my student to look completely incompetent when some guests come over."

"Guests?" I repeated. We never had guests. Ever. I don't know what it was like living in the monastery with the Ninja, but I would assume they didn't have guests either. They most likely weren't here on a social visit, then. It was probably business. Maybe. Probably. Hopefully not.

Sensei nodded in response. "Yes. The Blacks that you visited a few days prior are coming to stay for a bit. But not to worry. You won't need to give up your bedroom for the time being." He told me while walking back into the monastery in a relaxed pace.

That meant Kai and Nya were coming to visit? This was way too convenient. Something must have gone wrong or something. Nothing goes right for me unless there's a catch. What was it? Wait, I probably jinxed it.

"Oh," Sensei poked his head back around the sliding door, "Mr. Black and his children are probably going to be quiet or distant at best...his wife has passed on from this world just yesterday. Be hospitable to them, won't you, Lloyd?"

I nodded, not knowing what to say. Their mom is dead? When did that happen and why? Well obviously this was bad. Since their 'watchful eyes' didn't work at Four Weapons, the Blacks are moving in at the monastery for a 'short while' to try to keep them safe here. How did whoever was hunting them down track them down so quickly if Mrs. Black died by unnatural and/or supernatural causes? Was there someone on the inside working for the outside, maybe? My imagination is just getting the better of me. Right? Right. Who would be working for the outside? There weren't really any options I could go with assuming my assumptions were actually correct. Maybe I could get Zane to help me with one of my inane ideas. Wait, they weren't inane. They were genius. Yeah. Totally genius.

_§~§~§_

The Black family arrived quicker than I had anticipated. Around an hour after Sensei had mentioned it to me about it. I started wondering how Kai and Nya would act since their mother just died the previous day. How did I not hear about it before? What happened? Zane mentioned Mr. Black wasn't there when he delivered Sensei's letter so he gave it to Kai. Was Mr. Black searching for his wife while he was absent? I really wish I was there then I might have noticed that Kai was a little off. Or more edgy, to be precise.

After the family of three came in, Zane politely closed the door behind them and took their bags back to their room, struggling slightly most likely because of the weight but he could obviously get it to their room without too much difficulty. "Lloyd, help Zane with the bags, would you?" Misako told me quietly.

Not really wanting to exchange pleasantries with anyone, I obeyed without any objections, not noticing it actually meant, 'we don't want you here right now so scram'. Nya and Kai were instructed by their father to help as well, sending them the same message. Sensei, Nathan, and Misako were going to be talking about stuff we weren't supposed to hear. Meaning we would totally eavesdrop. But this meant we would have to exchange pleasantries after all. Darn. I almost weaseled out of that but _noo_. Nothing can go right for me.

"This is your room for now," Zane said, setting down Kai's bags down on his 'bed'. It looked more like a mat on a table, really. But hopefully they won't gripe about it. "I hope you two do not mind sharing a room. Our spares are quite limited with myself, Lloyd, Sensei, and Misako. And now you three." If he said it with a different tone rather than a half monotonous, half pleasant, it would have sounded like he was complaining.

The room looked really simple and was only slightly smaller than the average bedroom. There were two of the beds in each corner of the room that Sensei or Zane moved for privacy reasons most likely. Both the beds were under a smallish window and like all the other rooms, the door slid to the side to open it and looked like it was made of sheets of bamboo. I wasn't one-hundred percent sure but I decided it was a well-educated guess.

"It's fine," Nya said, plastering on a blatantly fake half-smile. I'm sure we'll be fine. It's pretty big after all and won't take too much to make this homey." She helped me set her bags on her bed then sat down on said bed. "But you wouldn't happen to have any mattresses, would you?" She asked hopefully.

I wasn't really completely sure if Sensei kept mattresses. I knew the Bounty had some, albeit extremely uncomfortable but were mattresses nonetheless. Thankfully Zane answered for me. "No. I apologize but Sensei normally doesn't use mattresses. He says that sleeping wood and/or bamboo straightens your posture and gives you a more attractive head shape."

Kai frowned and Nya looked like she didn't know how to respond to Zane's sentence, given what he was implying. I sighed, exasperated. "Anyway," I tried to fix the damage he had (unintentionally) made. "We'll leave you two in here to make yourself at home. Dinner should be ready in a few hours."

The only female in the group nodded and thanked us before closing the door behind us. "Zane, you do know you implied that Sensei thinks they have bad posture and an unattractive head, right?" I asked him once we were out of an earshot.

"I did?" He asked cluelessly.

"Yes."

"But I simply spoke the truth. Where were the implications in that?"

"Couldn't you have just said we didn't have any mattresses?"

"I suppose." Zane replied, not giving me an opening to chastise him. Of course I could but it seemed pointless especially when he seemed to agree with me. It was practically impossible to argue with this guy. In fact, it was hard to get him to have general conversation with you. Some things never change. Not sure if I liked _that_ certain trait Zane seems to have for all of eternity. Alternatively, his cooking skills weren't as good as they should have been. It was pretty good but just not _as_ good as his dinners usually were. I didn't know why and it confused me. I had always assumed it was programmed into him for him being a professional chef-level cook but apparently not.

There were several moments of silence of us not knowing what to do next. It was a little too early for Zane to start dinner so we had some free time on our hands and I started wondering what Zane would be doing on his free time. "Since you don't have anything to do for a while, what do you plan on doing?" I asked him out of pure curiosity. I have never seen the Nindroid idle for as long as I've known him and he was constantly doing something. Mostly productive things, of course.

"I'm not completely sure." He replied after hesitating a few seconds. "I usually don't have time where I don't know exactly what to do."

"So you'll help me with something?" I asked hopefully.

"It depends what that 'something' is," he replied shortly. "You've been acting more recklessly than you usually do so I don't know what you will force me to do that could possibly put me in proverbial hot water with my job here."

"Okay..." I wasn't sure why he had added that winded response when he just could have said 'depends'. "So that's a no?"

"No. It depends on what you require assistance with."

I visibly brightened up. "Well it isn't very dangerous," I said hastily. "I just need to ask you when you visited Kai if he was acting edgy or anything." That wasn't what I wanted to ask about but I decided to ease up on the question I intended to originally ask.

He contemplated the question for a minute. "He was acting a little distracted if my databases are to be trusted. Why?"

"Never mind," I frowned. It was more implications that their mother died by unnatural means. "Do you know how Kai and Nya's mom died?"

"No, actually," the Nindroid said, sounding like he was just thinking about it. "Sensei didn't mention anything of the cause of death. We shan't pry should they consider it be inconsiderate."

"Two things," I began, "one: you did _not_ just use the word 'shan't' in a sentence and two: do you think anyone else aside from the Blacks know the cause of death?"

He shrugged which was probably the first time I had ever seen him make that specific gesture. "I do not know, Lloyd. Perhaps we can ask later."

Ask later. That seemed like a good idea. Immediately after he finished his conversation with Misako and Mr. Black, of course. "Good idea. I'll do that."

Looking contented at my slight praise that resembled the look of a puppy dog, he nodded at me, a slight smile tugging at the side of his lips then walked off, probably looking for something productive to do.

After he sauntered off, I debated whether to eavesdrop on Sensei or Kai and Nya. It was probably more sensible to listen to Sensei's conversation, but I decided to listen to Kai and Nya instead.

"...weird. Something's going on." It was Nya.

"I kind of figured that out, sis," Kai responded and I could hear the floorboards creak from under one of the sibling's feet. "I don't think Dad's going to be telling us anything about it any time soon, though. We're gonna have to figure it out for ourselves."

"What's going on?" His sister asked hesitantly, "Or Mom's death?"

Kai paused before answering. "Nya, let sleeping dogs lie. Dad said she got some kind of sickness a while ago and just kept it from us. You know that."

She scoffed in response. "Both of us know that's a lie. It can't be true. She was just too normal for that. Something else happened that Dad doesn't want us knowing about. That's why we're taking this 'vacation'," I could almost see her using air quotes, "with no given date when we go home. Dad's in over his head. I want to know why."

Good. Nya wants to know about this as much as I did. Probably more since it involved her mother's death so that meant she would help me out with this. I was honestly surprised Kai wanted to let it be. It seemed so out of character for him. He was always hotheaded and needed to know everything that he didn't. Did he know something maybe? Or just didn't want to know what really happened? I tried to put myself in their shoes but I couldn't since I couldn't understand what it would be like. I never really had a person who raised me from childhood to where I am now. Well technically Sensei did in this world but that's not the point.

"Nya, please. Just leave it alone. If what you're saying is true, then that means you'll get in the same water Dad's in, if he is at all."

Understanding what Kai meant, I pictured Nya hugging her brother. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'm not completely helpless, you know." She forced a laugh to try and lighten the mood but didn't really seem to do much. Realizing this, she continued, "I'll be perfectly fine. Promise. But maybe if you help me out with this I could be safer~?" She asked in a sing-song voice.

After another pause, Kai finally gave in. "Fine. But we need to play it safe."

"Good. We'll interrogate Dad tonight, then."

"Wait...I didn't—"

I stopped listening there. It seemed like the interesting conversation had stopped there and turned into a sibling banter that Kai normally had with Jay or Cole back home. Inwardly, I devised a plan to try and get those two siblings to help me out with this 'mini mystery', as I had officially unofficially dubbed it. I would pretend to 'accidentally' walk in on them while they were snooping around (which wouldn't be too long if they were competent at this kind of stuff) then offer my help. And at the same time, Zane should be there and he could help too. We would exchange information and voilà! Hopefully they'd let us help out. And if that didn't go the way I plan, then I don't know. I'd probably be like Cole and make it up as I go along. That always seems to work for us so it won't fail me now. Hopefully.

* * *

**A/N**

This is probably one of the shortest chapters in this entire story. Sigh. Sorry this was late - I was busy this week for school then got distracted when I started re-watching season two of _Ninjago_ and at the last minute started watching _Thor_ so I was extremely late. Yeah.

Surprisingly enough, even though a **lot** happened in this chapter and I mean a **lot,**I don't think this one is badly executed. And remember this chapter. It is not a filler and will become important to the main plot. Anyway, if you think you can help me improve this in any way would you consider being my betareader? I could really use some help and you get an early view of the next chapter... HINT HINT. XD

* * *

**Review responses**

**Zane's Girlfriend: **Unfortunately I've only read one as well and if you know your stuff you probably know which one I read. XP

**Jinxie Jaymes: **Books? As in plural? Is he in more than one comic book? Oh, and congratulations on catching my Easter egg(s)!

**ForeverDreamer12: **Thanks!...Too bad I can't remember the said chapter. That's weird for me since I remember pretty much everything. Meh, whatever.

* * *

**Chapter question**

What do you think is going to happen in the Ninjago movie? Do you think it'll cover the somewhat of a cliffhanger after what happens at the end of episode 34 or something else entirely? I'd love to hear your theories!


	8. (Un)Helpful Allies

To my surprise, Kai and Nya didn't start actually doing anything other than ask pointless questions when it was obvious they wouldn't get an answer. It was more or less obvious that the Blacks never kept secrets. Lucky. They had that_ perfect_ family that never had anything go wrong. It was weird, though. Kai and Nya's back story seemed like the type to be perfect like that. It probably started when their parents died but since that never happened for a reason I still wasn't aware of, they still had that perfect family. I never saw families like that in real life. And my family definitely wasn't like that, adopted and biological. I don't even need to explain how and why.

"So how is this plan going to work?" Zane whispered to me, nudging me slightly to bring me back to reality. "And what if they don't want our help? Do we continue to stalk them during the night like criminals?" We were sitting in a secret room Zane had found when he first started working for Sensei and I that was able to go literally anywhere in the monastery. So it was basically a combo of secret room _and_ secret tunnel. It was pretty cool and I definitely didn't want anyone else knowing about it.

I sighed, exasperated and looked at him. "Listen carefully to me this time! Do I need to say it in words you understand?"

"I can understand everything you said but—"

"Stop," I interrupted. "I'll explain _again_," I rolled my eyes as I used the word 'again'. "We're going to pretend we were looking into their mom's untimely demise by looking through the same thing they are planning on looking for - even if it is completely useless - then explain most of everything we know to them and they'll let us help them."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"It will!"

"If it doesn't?" He repeated.

"I'll make it up as I go along!" He opened his mouth, probably to protest and I quickly added, "Any more _questions_?" I emphasized the last word in a way of telling him that I didn't feel like continuing the conversation.

He nodded. "Yes. How many hours of sleep do you plan on getting tonight?"

I looked at him oddly, wondering where that question had come from. "I don't know. Why?"

Zane shrugged his shoulders awkwardly. "Well you haven't been sleeping very well and it's been effecting your training. Sensei is getting suspicious how you've not been at," he paused, "the top of your game and he thinks that you, a: are sleep-deprived, b: have lost all interest in your training, or c: have become an extremely derelict person in every which way."

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that option C wasn't a compliment." I commented flatly.

"No. No, it wasn't."

I shook my head. "Never mind," I heard 'whispers' coming from down the hall. "They're coming." I told him.

"That or bandits who are incapable of the concept of whispering and currently attempting to pilfer our goods."

I shot another strange look in his direction. A look that clearly said 'that was uncharacteristic of you to make a sarcastic comment; who are you and what have you done with my slave friend?'. He didn't get the look because he looked completely unfazed. Didn't even flinch. I might have just not noticed, though. I guess we'll never know, then.

Turns out it was Kai and Nya and fortunately not bandits who were going to try to burglarize a monastery. I don't know what kind of petty thief would do that when I lived on a mountain with like a million steps. That poor mailman. Kinda weird he didn't have a car in this day and age. I shoved Zane out in the open, trying to get him to go through the things on cue on impulse, not really thinking ahead. It didn't work that well because I had accidentally knocked him into Kai. "Whoops." I muttered. "Sorry!" I mouthed to Zane.

"Zane?" Kai shoved him aside. "What are you doing up this late? Robbing your boss?" He accused, annoyed.

"No. But that is the question I should ask you: what are _you_ doing out here this late?" Zane responded coolly, not even looking like he reacted to Kai's indictment. "Unless I'm wrong, curfew was an hour ago."

Kai glowered. "Then maybe you are wrong." He sniffed then proceeded to turn his head away from him in a haughty manner.

Nya quickly apologized to Zane when she saw his surprised expression. It didn't look like his feelings were hurt but he looked sincerely surprised that he was acting so rude. "Don't mind him, Zane," she tried lamely and smiled weakly. "He just isn't a night person…or a morning person…or even a noon person, now that I'm thinking about it." A her nervous expression faded to one of thoughtfulness as she contemplated how absolutely grouchy Kai apparently generally was.

"_Hilarious_," Kai rolled his eyes then turned back to Zane. "Is it illegal for us to be walking around here at night?" He challenged.

"Yes, it is actually." He replied matter-of-factly.

I came out of my hiding spot before Kai could retort. I already could see a loud, long argument budding. As entertaining as seeing the two argue for two hours straight, now wasn't the time.

Neither of the siblings noticed that I had just come out of a cleverly disguised door that was actually a hidden room Zane had found (apparently) two years ago. He seemed to have been working for Sensei a lot longer. "So what are you doing out here?" Nya asked.

"We were looking into your—" I began but Zane cut me off.

"Some private matters. Some of _our_ private matters," he corrected me, emphasizing the word 'our', hinting that I shouldn't tell them what I was about to. "I assume that is what you are doing as well and you do not want to discuss you reason for looking into your mother's death."

"How did you know that?!"

"It was an educated guess combined with some of Lloyd's eavesdropping." Zane replied simply. "You shouldn't speak of private matters so loudly. I could hear you from the other room."

"You didn't have to listen!" Nya snapped. Rather uncharacteristic of her. Weird.

"I didn't but Lloyd did. He eavesdrops quite frequently."

I crossed my arms indignantly. "If you're going to try to talk behind someone's back, don't do it right in front of them!"

Finally processing that I hadn't been there previously, Kai looked at me suspiciously. "When exactly did _you_ get here?"

"I really thought you would have noticed earlier that there is a—"

Zane cut me off again, not wanting me to mention the secret room. "He came in through the door a few seconds ago. You must've failed to notice."

"Right." He didn't really sound like he believed us but didn't press the issue. We didn't need to be making up more lies. They were getting hard to keep track of and I had to remember each of them and why I made them or else I'd be caught. Sometimes they're too hard to keep track of they're not worth it. It causes a chain reaction of sorts.

"So we were wondering…" I began slowly. "If we could help you out with your investigation on your mom. We have some connections that you don't and could help you in ways you wouldn't be able to do by yourselves…"

"What ways?" Nya asked curiously, her interest piqued.

"Well for example…" I tried to think of things off the top of my head. I didn't _actually_ think of anything. It just slipped out. "Zane, why don't you tell them?"

"Well we all have different mindsets and it should help figure things out easier and quicker and I know some people around the bazar and your home village, including some other people who could know the whereabouts of your mother the day of the accident."

I couldn't tell if he was making it up or was serious. Why didn't he tell me about this? It probably wasn't true so in that case…

"I didn't mention it to anyone should someone want to ask me about said people and making their annoyance in the general public worsen." He added as if reading my thoughts. Well people do say I'm not a quiet thinker and always have my thoughts written across my face. I probably should try to fix that and work on the best poker face ever. _Good luck with that,_ a little thought in the back of my head told me. Wait, people's thoughts about the general public? What caused that?

"Why would you offer to help?" Nya asked. "Is there anything you want back in return?"

"No," I answered speedily. "I want to know what happened as much as you do and…" I drifted off when something hit me. These two were either really good at keeping their emotions in check or they weren't close to their mother at all. I assumed it couldn't have been that they weren't close. She didn't seem like the mother to be like that from the way she was described. I heard it wasn't good to keep all of your emotions in. I wasn't sure where that idea came from since I didn't have _too_ much experience in that idea but I could easily imagine it considering.

"So there's no catch?" Kai asked, seeming to not notice the way I drifted off and didn't finish my sentence or just ignoring it. "You just want to help?"

"That would be correct, yes." Zane confirmed with a brief nod of his head.

"Really? Why do you want to know?"

"You would have to ask Lloyd that one," Zane responded. "I'm not all that interested in it. I am simply just supposed to listen to him."

He totally was interested. He was just too proud to admit it. Ah, foolish pride. That was really odd to think of Zane actually being too proud to admit to something.

"Okay. Then direct previously asked question to Lloyd." Kai said flatly.

"I'm just curious."

"Why?"

"I just am." I replied simply, trying not to sound defensive. "Is that illegal?" He huffed in response and I continued. "And you're going to get our help whether you like it or not. We're looking into the same thing so technically, there's no way for us to do that without one or the other helping each other."

"Or be on the same page…so to speak." Zane added

Nya shrugged. "I'm all for it. We don't have anything to lose. Right, Kai?"

"If you don't have an issue with it then fine," he agreed, albeit begrudgingly. "But that doesn't mean we're going to—"

"Great!" Nya interrupted before her brother could say something sarcastic and-slash-or snarky. We seemed to be interrupting each other a lot tonight. "So where should we start?"

"Where you planning to start?"

"Well I was thinking going through Dad's journal." Kai spoke up, actually being useful for (most likely) the first time in his life…or this life, at least.

"His journal?" Zane repeated, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Yeah. He keeps everything in those things." Nya added. "The only problem is that he sometimes keeps audio diaries too and we don't know where to begin on those. For some reason he keeps those more hidden than his written one."

"How do you know he keeps audio diaries in the first place, then?" I asked.

"I've heard him recording them on rare occasions," Nya answered, scratching her neck as the cogs in her head starting turning as she struggled to remember some things in the past. "Anyway, his written journal is the thing we're after right now. Do you have any ideas where he might keep it?"

"He might keep it?" Zane, who had gone off to his own little world asked, coming back to reality. I bit back the urge to say something along the lines of, 'welcome back to reality! We've been waiting for you'.

"Why are you doing that?" Kai asked irritably.

"What?"

"That."

"What is 'that'?"

"Where you reply to everything someone says with an interrogative sentence."

"Do I?"

"You just did it again!"

Zane looked at Kai, clearly confused. "I did?"

"Never mind," Nya interrupted. "Are we breaking into Dad's room or not?"

"Now you're making us sound like criminals." I said flatly. "You need to word it differently," I advised simply. "Like a surprise visit that definitely isn't illegal."

"That just sounds shady."

"Well if you look at it out of context it doesn't."

Kai changed the subject. "Well then let's go give a 'surprise visit' to him."

_§~§~§_

"Did you find anything?" I whispered to Kai as he was rummaging through his dad's trunk. Wait, who the heck ever used that anymore.

"No," he responded curtly. "But…" he pressed his hands against the sides, similar to a blind person feeling around in an unfamiliar room. "You know how this old furniture has these really interesting compartments?"

I shook my head. "Uh…no."

Kai pursed his lips, continuing to feel around the edges. "Well they do. Trust me - I found eleven in an antique— ah, here," he didn't exactly find a button but when he felt under something that looked like a small shelf then pulled out a drawer. "Here's one," he set it aside. "I've seen a trunk with similar - no, almost identical things like this - actually. There are about seven more in here."

"So that means you know where the other ones are?" I asked hopefully. Hidden compartments would probably be hard to find. Since they were hidden and everything.

"Well I didn't say I remembered where all of them were," Kai replied stiffly. "I was twelve when I last found all of the secrets to this thing. And I didn't _exactly_ say that they were the same. I could be wrong."

I crossed my arms. "Well then why did you bother anything if you weren't sure?"

Kai sighed, trying not to snap at me in case he woke up his dad. "Never mind. Help me find more of these things."

After a few minutes, the door to the back slid open. Well… I think it did. I was too distracted to actually notice. In fact, neither of us knew a third…fourth person came into the room until he said something. "Whoa, look at all those hidden compartments!"

Kai and I jumped, causing Nathan to stir in bed. I held my breath, hoping that he didn't actually wake up. So far he seemed like a really heavy sleeper. Made sense since he hammered something on hot metal for a job on a daily basis so his hearing must be at least a little impaired.

After a few seconds of grueling silence, the same person spoke again. "No need to get jumpy." The speaker walked up closer to examine the insides of the box. "This kinda reminds me of a show I used to watch where this machine was bigger on the inside." He commented.

"It isn't really bigger on the inside…" Kai replied, still in slight shock. "Wait, what the heck are you doing here? Who _are_ you anyway?"

The person - who sounded extremely familiar, I might add - shrugged his shoulder. "I came here because I heard from some reliable sources that this place has some interesting, valuable stuff here and to answer your second question, it's none of your business."

Kai seemed unfazed by him…that or he was really good at pretending to do so when he shot the intruder a blasé expression. Or at least I think it was. Not completely sure, though. "Well the 'none of your business' thing would work if you didn't just break into my dad's room then imply that you want to rob us," before I could blink, Kai aggressively slammed the him to the ground. "Ha!" He said a bit too loudly. Well loud enough to wake up Nathan, at least.

I slapped my forehead and sighed. "We're in so much trouble…"

_§~§~§_

"Alright, you wake me up before the crack of dawn and you-" he shot a look at the intruder who still insisted on hiding his face behind a ski mask, "-break into my room and according to Lloyd and my son, you intended on robbing us?"

"So?" Ski mask guy asked.

"'So'?" Kai looked at him incredulously. "You were about to rob us!" He added under his breath, "What is it with me and meeting robbers tonight?"

"Guys!" Nya exclaimed, running into the room at the worst possible moment. "We found…Dad's…audio diaries…" she made a face. "This is really bad timing, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Great timing, Sis."

Nathan's gaze shot to Nya. "My audio diaries? Why were you looking for those? What did I teach you? You know you shouldn't look at other people's journals! Why were you even looking for them?"

"Uhm…"

"Never mind that," Kai sputtered. "Let's figure out who this guy is!" He snatched ski mask guy's ski mask off (which someone should have done a long while ago) and I nearly choked, had a heart attack and was scared half to death all at once.

"Cole?!"

* * *

**A/N**

Writer's block. Fuuuun. It's also more fun when I tried writing this chapter three times. Like I originally had Jay break into the monastery but then decided to make it Cole since it makes more sense and had over five hundred words with Kai and Zane arguing so I had to cut it out since it seemed really pointless. Plus a lot of other stuff.

Yes, I made that reference. I went there. Oh, and I'm not going to have a certain date anymore. It's hard to keep a schedule on creativity since I have to write these suckers last minute.

* * *

**Review responses**

**Jinxie Jaymes: **Maybe. I sure hope so. And ooh yeah... I remember LEGO mentioning that. According to Wikipedia, of course and _everyone_ knows how reliable Wikipedia is.

**ForeverDreamer12: **Zane, Zane, Zane...what is wrong with you? Well since I heard that it will be based off of the TV show, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Good. I don't like spoilers. XD

**nindroidzane: **Yep! Now the question is, was that an important plot point or is it a red herring?

**Zane's Girlfriend: **Unfortunately. No wonder no one wanted to be his friend. Poor guy.

**NinjagoLover72: **The Dreamer is pretty awesome, albeit slightly cliché. I like him nevertheless. XD So sorry for making you cry for almost three weeks... Yeah, somewhat of a good point. But AnimeFlavor is far from official and it could possibly be there just in case there are two more episodes. Of course it is possible but I don't think that's a good reason to think so. ;)

**nindroidzane: **Yep! A theater release too!

* * *

**Chapter question**

What is your favorite and least favorite episode of _Ninjago_ and why?


	9. Dialogue-Heaviness

Everyone looked at me oddly. I pursed my lips. _Oh no, oh no…I did something dumb again, didn't I?_ I tried to remember the last five seconds of my life but I was too busy trying to think of what I said to actually remember what I said. That made no sense at all but that's what happened.

"How did you know my name?" Cole asked. "I never mentioned it before."

_Oh. That. Whoops._ I thought glumly then quickly thought of a somewhat clever way to avert the topic. "So you admit that's your name, then?"

"That's not the issue here," Nya said. "What we want to know is why you know…" she paused before continuing, "Cole's name. So…?"

Fortunately, Sensei came into the room before I could say anything. "What are you doing up so late?" He asked, sounding annoyed. "It is far past curfew! If you don't have a good reason, I'll—"

"Well we all heard Cole-" Kai gestured to said person, "-then we all came—"

"That isn't true, I saw you and Lloyd going through my trunk then Nya came in saying she found my—"

"You could have misheard it!" Nya defended hotly, furrowing her eyebrows.

Before I knew it, all of us were talking all at the same time and no one could understand what we were saying except the people who were actually bickering. I wasn't sure how that worked exactly but that's the way it was. Now that I'm thinking about it, I can't actually remember the argument that well since it seemed quite pointless. Maybe we thought it was more important because we were sleep-deprived and just wanted to go to sleep. Hopefully. Or we could just be idiots. That's probably the thing that makes most sense but something that none of us would ever admit to and/or accept.

"_ENOUGH_!" Sensei shouted before I could say, 'I'm not a kid', before Cole could say, 'I needed the money', before Nya could say, 'why would you even think this place was worth it', and right after Nathan said, 'why would you want my audio diaries?'. "Everyone talk one. At. A. Time. So who first?"

"Where's Zane?" Kai suddenly asked. "I haven't seen him since he split up."

"He said that he saw something and wanted to go after it," Nya answered, thankful for Kai seeing somewhere to change the topic that was a valid reason and easy not to question. "Other than that he didn't exactly give me his itinerary."

"Well do you know what he was following?"

"No, I didn't ask."

Conversation was dying so that meant back to the topic that none of us wanted to talk about. Brilliant. I guess Kai didn't really mean that as a distraction. He was sincerely curious. But Nya was obviously telling the truth so what did he follow? It must have been pretty important for him to go M.I.A.. Huh. I've always wanted to say that.

"And you didn't find him wandering off like that the least bit suspicious?" Cole piped up sarcastically.

"Hey," Kai snapped at Cole, "you keep quiet. We still need to interrogate you."

"But you're not."

"Yes we are."

"No, you're not."

"Stop arguing, guys," Nya intervened. "It's not setting off a good impression."

"We're not arguing!" Cole and Kai retorted in unison.

"Now you're making it worse!" I said in a whiny tone.

"I am not!" Nya responded.

"Yes, you are!"

By now, it was really early in the morning and it was again confirmed, we just needed some sleep and then we would stop making ourselves look like idiots. Of course everyone was far too tired to notice it so no one commented on it. It's kind of funny, honestly. If we kept it up we'd just look like we'd be doing a lame skit someone wrote when they were half-asleep or drunk. Sensei had left, probably thinking we were a lost cause and took the aspirin from the cupboard to go back to sleep by the time Nathaniel broke us up, duct tape-d Cole so he couldn't leave, and sent us all to bed for everything to be sorted out later.

_§~§~§_

We were all feeling better the next morning and Zane still hadn't turned up. I was starting to get worried but I wasn't able to think too much about it because I found myself in hot water after most of what I did was squeezed out of me. Of course I didn't tell anyone _why_ I did it and Misako was too annoyed with me to ask why. I didn't know what my punishment would be but it hopefully wouldn't be that bad. Misako didn't even know what to do with me and temporarily put me out on 'bail'. It was before my verdict was decided, anyway. The minute she let me do whatever I wanted (as long as it wasn't illegal in the monastery or anything), I darted off to where Nathaniel was keeping Cole. For a second, I thought everyone had forgotten about him until I noticed he was eating some leftovers from last night's dinner. It looked like he was enjoying it because he was sure chowing down. Either that or he was seriously hungry.

He looked up when he noticed me approaching. "Well at least I know you guys are civil enough to actually feed your prisoners…you know, right after you change your duct tape to chains. Where did you get that anyway? We're in a monastery, not a jail."

He sure had a lot to say. "Well we're also a training ground," I shrugged then continued, "why did you bother coming all the way up here just to rob us? Wouldn't it be easier just to rob someone else?"

Cole set his plate down to the left of him. "Ph—I mean, an acquaintance of mine said that this place has some really valuable stuff here and has bad security."

"Well you were right about the valuable items but bad security?" I repeated indignantly. "Really? It's a monastery! Monks are the people who invented kung fu!"

"Well now I know not to ever rob a monastery again. Or this one, at least."

"So why did you want to rob us in the first place?"

"Money. Obviously," he rolled his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Well it kind of was unless he was an archeologist who takes his job far too seriously and clearly, he wasn't.

"What did you need the money _for_?" I tried to play it off like that was the question I had originally asked. "That's what I meant."

"You're a nosy one, aren't you?"

I half expected him to call me one of those really annoying nicknames he made up for me. I had mixed feelings about him not calling me 'shorty' or something similar. "Well you did kind of try to rob me. I think I would want to know."

"None of your business," he responded tersely. "And I didn't try to rob _you_," rolling his eyes, he continued, "I tried to rob what's-his-face's dad."

"Same difference and _yes_, it is my business because you tried to rob Mr. Black!"

"I needed the money. That's all you need to know."

"Why did you need the money?"

"Did I not mention all you need to know is that I needed the money which is why I robbed you?"

I groaned loudly, exasperated. "You are such a—"

"You might not want to finish that sentence," Nya advised, walking from behind me. "You're already in enough trouble."

"I was just going to say he was a stubborn mule."

"Hey!"

"See?" She gestured to Cole, "Already in enough trouble. First Sensei, next your mom, now the prisoner."

"I'm a prisoner now?"

"It's not like he can do anything." I responded with a nonchalant shrug as if the person we were talking about wasn't even present.

"Eh, good point. He is kind of _tied up_ at the moment."

"Yeah, and he wouldn't want to—"

"Hello! The person you're talking about and insulting is sitting less than two meters away from you!" Cole interrupted me before I could make a clever joke about his current situation.

"Sorry," I apologized. "I didn't mean to _yank your chain_."

Nya and I sniggered at our jokes. "Anyway," she sobered after clearing her throat then looked at Cole. "Dad wanted me to ask you what you needed money for and maybe we could help you out depending on what you need it for."

"Why is everyone asking me that?" He asked, throwing his hands in the air.

"I don't think two people asking what you need money for counts as 'everyone' considering there are billions of people on the planet." I commented drily.

"It seems like everything I say turns into a-" he shook his head "-never mind, there's no point."

"So what do you need the money for? Again, Dad said he might be able to help you if you have a good reason for it and we're not going to press charges."

"We're not?"

"You're not?"

We both chorused.

She nodded in confirmation. "Yep. Now will you answer the question?"

"You won't like the answer."

"Then I guess we can't help you out with your financial problems, then…" I replied, attempting to bait him into saying what he needed the money for. I was pretty good at baiting people, if I do say so myself. Well this wasn't a very good bait but nonetheless…

"I ran away from a school my dad forced my into and I really hated to try and find my mom who left us when I was ten." He said bluntly.

Nya's brows knitted together as she scratched her neck. "Hmm…" she mused. "Not completely sure whether or not that's a good reason for money but I'll run it past Dad. Be right back." She said then walked out of the room, seemingly not thinking too much into the reason for the extra cash.

After she closed the door, I looked at Cole oddly. "You ran away from school because you wanted to find your mom who dumped you?"

"Pretty much."

"…Well at least you weren't kicked out."

"If I stayed any longer I'm sure I would have been."

"How long were you there, exactly?"

"Two days."

"…Oh."

Well that conversation didn't last long. Why did I not know this before? It's kinda weird I know more about him when we're more or less strangers to each other. When I get back home I can make some jokes about him thieving before he became a ninja. Then hope he forgives me and ask about his mom. I always knew he didn't mention his mom but I didn't know she jumped up and left him. I'm interested in that story. Well not as interested as Kai and Nya's mom's death but still. Mystery's more interesting than family drama. I already have enough.

_§~§~§_

"Okay," Nya said as she came back into the room, "Dad said he'd help you get the money as long as you go back home and tell your dad what you did and why you ran away."

"Okay." Cole said simply. "That'll work."

"And if you're lying just to get the money," she continued, "we'll tell the police everything and they'll be able to track you down faster than you can say 'I lied and got away with it'."

"Oh." He replied, frowning. "Then no way. Can you just let me go now?"

She shrugged. "If you insist," Nya bent down and started unlocking the chains. "But we're still gonna send you back home. Thanks to Misako's connections, we managed to track down your address."

"But—"

"No buts," she interrupted then giggled. "Hey, I've always wanted to say that, thats why I asked Mom if I could be a babysitter before she…" she drifted off, her smile fading. "Anyway, we called your dad and he should be ready to pick you up. I can guess you have a long conversation ahead of you."

"No!" He exclaimed incredulously. "I don't want to go back home!"

"Hey, appreciate what family you have 'cause you might end up not having any at all." Nya crossed her arms, glaring at him. She had finished unlocking the chains and stood up, still glaring at him.

"Well isn't it better not to have one at all sometimes?" Cole replied.

"No." Me and Nya said at once.

"Well maybe you two have great families but mine isn't that great."

"Well neither is mine," I frowned before continuing, "kind of…it's complicated." I finished, avoiding a long story.

"Well mine's complicated too." He persisted.

"You know what?" Nya interrupted. "If you want to argue about family issues, go right ahead but I have more important things to worry about."

"Like texting your friends and buying new shoes?"

"No," she replied hotly. "Besides, even if I had a cellphone, we don't get reception all the way up here."

"Oh, that's why I haven't got any more phone calls from my dad."

"Yeah, that's probably why," my voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Wait, you didn't bother buying another phone? You _do_ know he can track you with that, right?"

"Yeah, but he wouldn't know."

"And you're willing to risk running away for that?"

"Ugh…never mind…"

Nya pursed her lips. "Moving forward…" she cleared her throat. "Come on, Cole. You don't have to stay in here anymore. If you want I can show you around."

"What's to see in a monastery?" He asked flatly.

"It's just to pass the time," she replied. "And I'm just a visitor here myself so you can get the feel of what it's like at a monastery-slash-bed and breakfast."

* * *

**A/N**

Dialogue-heavy, short chapter, I know. It was kinda necessary and since it's cannon, Nya/Cole. Sue me. I don't like that pairing that much but I don't_hate_ it. It's kind of growing on me. :X

Oh, and yes. I made the characters OOC on purpose. They obviously won't be like they would in the TV show since they never had Sensei Wu to develop them and give them good lessons. And personally, I could really picture Cole being rebellious and more or less a jerk...but that's just me.

* * *

**Review Responses**

**Jinxie Jaymes: **I know, right? That's like the main reason I like that episode. And about Zane's untimely demise, I kind of like the way his death was executed (...pun not intended). I didn't like what happened to him, but I think it was done surprisingly well.

**ForeverDreamer12: **I know, writer's block is pretty freaking annoying. It makes me stop writing stories, actually. XD I like that episode too. It's so fun to watch and the Garmadon moments in there are pretty priceless other then episode 10 and the, 'Garmadon's back, baby!' quote.

**Zane's Girlfriend: **Is it so wrong that I like that episode? I personally thought it was really good. I mean, I know about how sad it is but it was really good. Plus, he (you know who I'm talking about) was/is literally a walking computer and he could have backed his mind up on a USB port...or something. Which explains why PIXAL could hear him at the end of the episode. You know, like that _Doctor Who_ episode where the Doctor's friend from the future...you know what? I'm just...I'm just gonna shut up now. Exceptitwasn'twithasonicscrewdriver.

* * *

**Chapter Question**

What was the first episode of _Ninjago_ you ever saw?


	10. First Person II

Zane followed the odd bird that seemed to be going to Jamanakai Village. For some reason it seemed vaguely familiar to him. As if he had seen it somewhere before. Vague images flashed through his mind that seemed more like memories than ideas he had made up. Except he was going to Birchwood Forest. A strange idea popped into his head that the bird wasn't actually…well, a bird. It was odd, really. Following after the bird had triggered these thoughts that felt like memories. Somehow, he was able to match his feeling of déjà vu with broken 'memories': dropping posters. Following a bird with three companions behind him, each wearing unique colors - blue, black, and red - and them falling behind one by one.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard dry leaves crunching beneath his feet. He was in the woods near the monastery. The falcon had taken a turn without Zane noticing, taking him to an area which looked like a broken down building. _That must have been a massive building to have that much area cleared for it,_ he mused thoughtfully and glanced back up at the falcon which had perched itself lightly on a branch several meters away. It tilted its head to the side slightly and flew over the ruins, as if indicating for Zane to take a closer look. Whether or not that was the case or not, he didn't know. The bird flew off before he could ask. Of course it couldn't answer but he could sense the answer, in a way. A kind of understanding where he could understand it and couldn't at the same time. Not that it made any sense.

Once Zane got down to the wood, he was slightly surprised it didn't seem to have been there for long. Either that or the lush, green trees worked better as umbrellas than they looked, resulting in the wood not rotting because of rain. He found an odd piece of cloth. It seemed irrelevant enough but he felt drawn to it for some reason. Once he started examining it, the piece of fabric in question sent another jolt of déjà vu. He had seen it somewhere before. It felt like…a compressed memory that had been sitting in the back of his mind but he never bothered checking out those memories for so long he forgot they were there. What was this place?

Zane glanced around for the falcon. It wasn't anywhere to be seen.

_"And WHY did you follow the bird?" _

_"Because it danced." _

_"Was it a cuckoo bird?" _

_"No. Everyone knows cuckoo birds are not indigenous to these forests."_

He shook the thoughts out of his head. All those voices he had heard before. Except one the one just before. It sounded vividly familiar. Like the kind that you would want to shut up but you wouldn't want them to if they actually did. It wouldn't hurt to add another mystery to the pile, would it? Or he was just going crazy.

* * *

**A/N**

In case you were wondering, no. The cloth thing isn't cannon and yes. This just might imply what you thought was true actually wasn't… DUN DUN.

* * *

**Review responses**

**Pinkie Pie luvs Ninjago:** Yep. Cole, where did you go wrong? Wait, wrong question. Where did you go _right_?

**Jinxie Jaymes: **Nice- those episodes are good to start off on. Unlike me whose first episodes were ten and eighteen. I started watching the show really late. Before the series ended, though. When people thought episode sixteen was new, to be precise.

* * *

**Chapter question**

In your opinion, what is the friendliest fandom you've been involved in?

I would have to say _Ace Attorney _for me. The people there are generally just great. :3


	11. Crap 'n Junk?

I awkwardly watched Nya and Cole walk off. She was still a guest herself and I didn't exactly know what she was doing. She wasn't dumb enough to unhook him so she walked him around like a dog. I decided not to think about it too much since it was kind of weird to think about and extremely weird to see. I thought it would be odd for me to follow them around like I have been doing without giving it a second thought since I got there. Besides, they weren't talking about the monastery. More like…each other. Much like a lot of things these days, it was weird. I could actually see Nya and Cole as an item but I wouldn't admit to that in a million years. Especially in front of Jay. In my universe anyway. But then again, I heard that Jay was head-over-heals for her the second he saw her.

Deciding that I looked liked an inept idiot while just standing where I was, I went back to where most of the action was happening. And by 'most of the action', I mean everyone who wasn't Cole and Nya playing poker. To be completely honest, it was hard to see Sensei play anything that wasn't 'force students to train indefinitely'. I could never understand how poker worked no matter how many times Jay had explained it to me. How he knew how to play the game was far beyond me and honestly? I didn't really want to know. I knew there was a 'full house' and the way to win was through bluffing and luck. I couldn't bluff very well and had absolutely no luck so I automatically assumed I wouldn't be good at said game and never bothered to try. Weirdly enough, it looked like Kai was winning. I never saw him the type as to be able to hold a straight face. Aside from Jay, he was probably the easiest to tell what he was thinking. His thoughts were quite literally written all over his face.

After a few minutes of watching them play, the silence started making me uncomfortable and I had to urge to shout loudly in Finnish. I tried quenching the urge by wondering where Zane was. And why exactly would he want to leave in the first place. Probably a weird Zane-like reason. He was still Zane no matter what universe I was in. Except less confident. As I noted several times, he seemed to keep to himself more than he (somewhat) already did. For some reason beyond the comprehension of man, I actually _missed _it how Zane went on these really long and detailed explanations on how everything worked and I didn't understand what he was saying most of the time. I also missed how the other three would just stare at him incredulously then one of them would repeat what he said except one that actually made sense. Sighing, I shook my head. Nostalgia really sucks sometimes. Especially since it can possibly be happening as I speak– and I'm missing it because I made a dumb wish to a weirdo woman who I didn't even know. How was I supposed to know that wish would actually come true? The world isn't 'It's A Wonderful Life' kind of universe. But apparently Phasma is a universe jumper. And possibly a time traveller. I fished through my pocket for the (ugly and cheap) bell she had given me. It wasn't there.

Slightly panicking, I darted to my (tiny) room where there was so little furniture in there it was virtually impossible to lose something. It was somewhat like an Amish kind of room. Nothing but a bed, a nightstand, and a coat rack. I had a bookshelf full of books that made my eyes hurt when I bothered to look at them. Then I dropped a book then my foot hurt too. Anyway, I turned the room upside down, checking everywhere possible. I wasn't sure where else I could have put it or what happened if someone else got a hold of the bell. Probably ring it liberally when they realized a genie of sorts was connected to it.

I decided to check the 'laundry room' as well but it was unfortunately for naught. I use quotes because it was basically hand-woven baskets and a laundry line that was used in the nineteenth century. As I said previously, it was gone. Mentally berating myself for losing it, I wondered why someone would take the bell in the first place. It was honestly ugly and only a person who had an obsession with bells would even _consider_ taking it. I pursed my lips, wondering what would happen if someone else got it then wondered who would have that chance. Zane might have but I really doubt he'd even consider thievery. He wasn't programmed that way. Cole probably wouldn't have, seeing how it didn't look like it was worth anything and he wasn't ever in my room. That or he was a lot better at stealth as a thief rather than a ninja. I don't think Kai or Nya would but I wouldn't put it past them. Technically, we barely knew each other and only met a few days before so they were a possibility. Nathan could have but I don't remember him ever going into my room but it was possible. Sensei probably didn't. If he was even remotely interested in it, he'd ask me about it and not resort to stealing it. Misako was probably the best guess. It was more a hypothesis given the circumstances. She was an archaeologist. But I could have left it in one of my uniforms and it fell out on the ground, someone picked it up and didn't know it was mine so they either threw it away or kept it for themselves. I would have continued my frantic search for the bell until I started wondering WHY - again - why was I looking for the bell anyway? What would be so bad about losing the bell? Would it be because someone else would get it and Phasma would have to come to them? After debating questions, I decided that my search was pointless. She hadn't proved to be much help and even said so herself. What would be so bad if someone else got to it anyway? I didn't know why she granted me a wish in the first place but I did know she wasn't like a genie despite my earlier comparison. She did have a choice whether she wanted to or not. Surely she knew what wishes not to grant. Ones that resulted in the end of the universe, at least. Not ones that sent you to an alternate one.

About an hour later, Cole's dad showed up. The conversation that followed his coming was awkward, terse, and even had a threatening vibe to it. One that I couldn't exactly explain but the way he looked at Sensei, Misako, and Nathan. It looked like he wanted to say something more but didn't because he didn't want to say something too loud or too much where I could put pieces the puzzle together. The idea that something else was going on behind the scenes had a tug on the back of my mind again.

Because of the ambiance of the conversation, I won't attempt to describe it and was singing hallelujah when I was sent to get Cole. But of course things could never go as planned. When I found Nya, Cole wasn't anywhere to be seen. I had a pretty good idea of what happened because of Nya's ticked expression but to be sure, I asked anyway. "Where's Cole?"

She glared at me. If looks could kill, Kai could very easily be dead. "The slippery jerk picked the lock and made his escape!" She snarled. It was odd for me to see Nya so angry but I knew what happened if you dared to try and argue with a teenage girl so I made the wise choice not to press her buttons.

"And you didn't notice?" I asked, trying to not sound like I felt. You know what I said about 'not pressing her buttons'? Well I failed.

"Of COURSE I noticed!" She snapped. "But obviously, he's faster and stronger than me! Cole is a thief and I'm just a blacksmith's daughter!"

"Well his dad—"

"I know! But I can't tell them I lost him!" Nya rolled her eyes. "I don't think he was dumb enough to steal anything but I wouldn't put it past him. The…the…" she balled her fists.

"The what?"

"I'd say it but I'm not allowed to in front of kids."

"I'm not a—"

"You lost him?!" Kai's voice asked angrily. "How did you lose him? It's hard to lose a person that easily!"

"Tell that to the police who specialize in missing people." I remarked drily.

He glared at me but didn't retort. Instead, he sighed. "Well do you have any idea where he might be?" He was trying to be patient but I could tell this was grating on it. A little more and I could set him off the edge. I have a natural talent for annoying someone until their breaking point, by the way. It's something that took years and years to hone and perfect so I could—

"If I knew that I wouldn't be here."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and grab the wooden pillar to his right and bang his head against it until his brain came oozing out of his ears.

…

…

Wow, that sounded really horrifying.

"Well what do we tell his dad?" Nya sighed, calming down. "I don't think he's going to be very happy."

"Well that's kind of a given, sis." Kai replied. "Maybe if we just explain what happened he'll understand."

"Not." I added unhelpfully. "Think about it– how would you react if you were in the same circumstance?" Clearly the 'other me' bleeding in again… Man, now I sound like The Hulk. I didn't technically have MPD if you really think about it. Wait, if you really, REALLY think about it, then it does sound like I have MPD so don't think about it too much. Unless you over think it then you probably come to the conclusion that YOU have MPD because of the alternate universes thing. I just can't stop making jokes about that, can I?

"Then we can just…tell him the truth," Kai sighed then glanced at Nya. "Make sure to spell out this was all technically you fault."

His sister glared at him. "Fine." She seethed through her teeth and marched off.

"I don't think you should have put it that way." I commented.

"Did you see that guy's dad?" Kai asked, gesturing to the door. "The guy's…demoting in some way."

Not gonna lie. There really wasn't a way I could argue with that. He was demoting and had thus aura about him that screamed, "I'M YOUR BOSS SO DEAL WITH IT" but at the same time he cared for Cole in probably the common 'doesn't know how to show it so looks like a jerk towards kid'. I see that a lot in movies and real life. Especially that one time where Cole was so tired of dealing with me, he got Zane to pull some strings and they dumped me in a completely normal public school. It was weird but at the same time, I felt really accomplished when I totally owned everyone at dodgeball and pretty much everything in PE…and Ninjago history. Then I totally sucked at everything else. I accidentally blew up half of the school when I was in science, when I dissected a frog I accidentally catapulted the stomach in a teacher's face (don't even ask how it happened). It was a lot more funny when it happened and the aftermath wasn't so much.

"Lloyd?"

"What?"

"What's so interesting about the wall?"

I glared at him but didn't answer. The response would be kinda weird. Especially since it technically didn't actually happen.

"WHAT?" I heard Cole's dad shout.

"And that would be either our cue to hide, shaking in the corner or go check out how much damage he did to Nya's ear." Kai commented.

Obviously, I chose the latter.

"Do you know what kind of…danger will happen if he doesn't come back– soon? And stays with his mother of all people!"

"Yes, I am aware," Sensei replied calmly. I wondered why and how he managed to not shudder at every move the man made. "But I assure you. I will find him." I could swear that I heard him mutter "along with everything else" sarcastically. But maybe not swear because it was kinda uncharacteristic for him to say anything sarcastic. Maybe something dry every once in a while.

"I'll help find him," Nya said quickly. "Promise!" She thought about his comment. "Wait, what do you mean? How would—"

"It's complicated and I really don't have the time to discuss this. Especially with the girl how could have indirectly caused my son's untimely demise." Lou remarked. I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or was serious. It was hard to tell with him.

"What?" Nya asked. "What does his mom do for a living?"

Exactly the question I was wondering. Unfortunately, Misako interrupted the conversation saying that the people from 'Crap 'n Junk' place was here to fix the leak in the pipes. One that I didn't even existed but didn't try questioning it. It was disappointing but Kai suddenly spoke up. "'Crap 'n Junk'?" He asked, looking at me.

"What about it?"

"Mom and Dad to talk to them all of the time. For some reason we had a lot of problems with the house I never noticed." Kai frowned. "Did we have a leaky pipe in the bathroom?"

"Apparently."

"But one you never noticed."

"I guess so. And I'm assuming you didn't either." I said, still not getting the message.

Kai understood that so he spelled it out for me. "Yeah. This sounds really weird as I think about it and don't want to sound like Jay—"

"Jay?" I repeated.

"—but I think they're up to something…" he paused. "Probably not their son, though. He's kinda a nut job and I don't think he can possibly stop talking."

"Okay?" For some reason, the name 'Crap 'n Junk' clicked. It was SCRAP 'n Junk and the 'S' in the sign just usually didn't work and the 'Jay' he mentioned was Jay. Ninja Jay. Sorta. Before I could ask for confirmation, I heard the familiar, annoying voice that sometimes made me want to drill my head through the wall. Or the floor. Or Jay. But this kind of made me want to do the complete opposite.

"Kai, what are you doing here?" He asked in a rather rude voice then glanced at me. "Hi, Lloyd."

Huh? Why does he know me? Has he been here before? Where's Zane when you need him? Where is Zane now? Hopefully he's not dead or anything. No, seriously. I really hope he hasn't been killed. "Uh…hi."

He looked at me, pleasantly surprised. "You talked to me– usually you just make an excuse to avoid me."

Well…!…That made a whole lot of sense, actually. "I did?" I asked lamely.

"Yes. I was here just two weeks ago. Don't you remember? You said you – never mind." He looked at Kai. "So what are you doing here?"

"My mother died and my dad moved us here to get away from home." Kai said bluntly. Only now did I really notice that his mother's death was finally setting in and hitting hard. I could only assume that he was faking everything for Nya's sake and Nya was always the type to stay strong for herself and everyone around her. It started making sense that they were kind of grouchy and sarcastic more than they usually were. I thought it was because of the alternate universe thing again but this made a lot more sense.

Jay bit his lip. "Oh…I'm…I'm sorry." He seemed speechless. This was probably the first time I've seen him speechless. This should go down in history as 'Miracles of the Day'.

"Thanks." Kai replied then changed the subject. "So your folks are here to fix a leaky pipe—"

"In the bathroom?" Jay finished for him, glad for the change of subject. "Yeah. They even pulled me out of school for it. It must be one heck of a leak."

"They pulled you out of school?" Kai asked. "For nothing? There wasn't even a leak in the bathroom!"

Jay banged on the wall, making me jump. "HA!" He exclaimed loudly. "See? They're totally up to something! And the guy from the Royal Blacksmiths too– or knows what's going on anyway. You know why?" He asked. I could tell Kai was going to tell him to shut up but he kept talking. "Because he nearly had a panic-attack when my parents and me walked in and stopped yelling at–" he got this dreamy look in his eyes as he continued, "Nya then followed my parents and Lloyd's mom and uncle in the back where the bathroom WASN'T."

"Maybe they have another bathroom?" Nya suggested, approaching us from behind.

He was so engrossed in his conspiracy theory that he didn't even bat an eye at Nya's appearance. "No! I checked!"

"When did you do that?" I asked.

He laughed nervously. "That doesn't matter, does it? Anyway, they're up to something! I know it!"

Nya chewed her lip. "Jay…I'm actually starting to believe this idea of yours now…our time in the monastery has kinda implied it a lot. These guys aren't even trying to be subtle anymore."

Jay looked over at her, practically drooling. "R-Really?" He asked dreamily and entered some kind of hypnotized state. That woman really has him wrapped around her finger.

Kai rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his stomach. "Really, Jay? You never cease to amaze me." He said in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Thank you!" He said enthusiastically, not getting the sarcastic tone of voice them continued babbling on how the conspiracy was actually because the MI6 was actually a bunch of aliens who wanted to take over the world. I couldn't come up with that even if I was high on caffeine _and_ sugar while half-asleep at three in the morning.

"Is there a 'mute' button for this guy?" I asked, sighing.

"Trust me," Kai responded. "I woulda found it years ago."

"Aw, don't be so mean," Nya laughed lightly. "He's kinda annoying, I'll admit but he's also kinda cute."

"Whatever you say, Sis." Kai shrugged, not bothering to object to her comment.

"Years?" I asked. "How long have you known Jay?"

"Around ten or eleven years." Nya replied. "We practically grew up together."

"…Really?"

"Yep!" Jay nodded. "But you kinda already knew that. Did you get amnesia or something?" He joked.

Before I could retort with a sarcastic reply half-ready on my tongue, a scream came from the back room. The four of us scrambled to where the scream came from. Once we got to where Sensei, Misako (probably the one who screamed), Lou, and Jay's parents standing around a pool of blood. It looked rather violent until I saw what was in the middle—

Nya gasped loudly and clapped her hands over her mouth.

Sensei looked at the two siblings, shaking his head. I felt a boulder drop and I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. It was obvious that what he had to say wasn't good news.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

**A/N**

So sorry this took over a month to update… September was a really sucky month for me. My uncle died at the beginning of the month and obviously it went downhill from there. Plus Super Smash Brothers 4 came out and I've been playing Palutena while beating up Pit…yeah…then I play Zelda and attack Link. Something is seriously wrong with me. Help?

Anyway, does the last line remind you of the Tenth Doctor? Eh, it's probably just me. Gimme props for this one– I wrote it on my iPod and iPad. I'm awesome.

TL;DR, a family member died, Smash Brothers 4 is cool, Sensei Wu somehow reminds me of Ten and I wrote this chapter on a mobile device.

**Review responses**

**Zane's Girlfriend: **And more importantly, we hope Zane can find the truth. And even MORE importantly, me figure out how to write Doctor Julien.

**Jinxie Jaymes: **Very true. =3

**ForeverDreamer12: **I kinda went crazy went third person in that one. XD

**Kasai0412: **Thank you! Hopefully it won't take me over a month to update this story again…

**Chapter question**

If you could have a pet– any kind of pet in Barbie-land (meaning it won't kill you and/or eat you, you don't have to care for it, and it exists– you get what I mean), what would you get?


End file.
